


Cloudbursting

by ashethehedgehog



Category: Code Geass
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dragons, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst, Angst and Humor, Dragons, Knightmares are now Dragons, M/M, dragon rider au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:33:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 38,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24435169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashethehedgehog/pseuds/ashethehedgehog
Summary: Suzaku was just a nameless soldier in the military, one of many pawns on the back of a dragon. He wanted to fight to protect his country, his home, and his friends, despite his lack of power or name.He had no idea who the rebel leader Zero was, but he knew he was trouble. No good could come from challenging the empire, and the fact Zero was even trying was going to cause more harm than good to the Japanese.But he was stuck in a game, something bigger than he had any knowledge of. He was more than a pawn on a board, and the day would come when he would realise it and break free.He was destined for something greater.
Relationships: Kururugi Suzaku/Lelouch Lamperouge | Lelouch vi Britannia
Comments: 62
Kudos: 49





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all! Ashe here yet again with more dragons, AUs, and angsty bullshit! Sorry if you were expecting more puzzleshipping from me, but I recently watched Code Geass for the first time (late to everything, as usual lmao) and I've fallen in love with suzalulu~ This AU concept just kind of... SPRUNG up on me one day, because it's dragons so of COURSE it did. It's my first multichapter/long fic for the fandom, and I hope ya'll like it!!
> 
> The title is a mix between Cloudbusting and Cloudburst. One, a weather occurrence, one, a fantastic Kate Bush song, both have nothing to do with the fic, really, I just thought it sounded cool and I hate overthinking titles ahaha. I'm here to write a cool story not spend seven years on the title lmao.  
> Short start but that's how I like it! Hope you enjoy!

The wind snapped around his ears, howling wildly. Down below, dragons danced in their teams, sweeping through the sky under the watchful gaze of the Knight of Three atop his own dragon.

“ _Squads three and four, take up formation six_!” The Knight’s voice crackled through his earpiece.

“You heard the knight,” Suzaku chuckled. Below him, his dragon roared.

Lancelot spun around with grace, tail snapping to and from behind him. Suzaku let himself grin, leaning down close to Lancelot’s back.

The drills were too simple, and he could sense Lancelot felt the same. The bulk of the dragon’s chest trembled as he beat his wings. To an outside source, it would seem that Lancelot was at his limit, but Suzaku knew better.

“What’s say we kick it up a knock, ey, Lancelot?” He tugged at the reins, and his dragon knew his desire immediately.

He suddenly dropped from the sky, diving down. Wings tucked right by his sides, Lancelot plummeted to the ground. Suzaku felt the rush of wind in his face, roaring past his ears. The jolt settled deep into his stomach, his head pounding at him to _pull up, just pull up before you die!_

He barely yanked at the reins, but it was enough for Lancelot to feel. He snapped his wings open, letting his body flow through to arch around. The snap of his tail was harsh in Suzaku’s ears, cracking through the air as their velocity slowed.

Lancelot eventually pulled up into a hovering position, waiting for Suzaku’s next orders.

“Kururugi!”

Suzaku groaned, glancing over at the approaching blue and white dragon. “Yes, sir?”

“You broke form!” Gino pulled his dragon up, hovering next to Lancelot. Tristan growled at Suzaku’s dragon, teeth bared. Lancelot, ever the arrogant, simply snorted, ignoring him.

“My apologies,” Suzaku winced. “I didn’t mean to, sir, I just got carried away.”

And it was true, he had lost himself in the feeling with his dragon. But he couldn’t admit as much; letting his dragon influence his thoughts would be admitting how out of control the Britannians believed him to be.

He already had enough stacked up against him. He really didn’t need a reason to add more scorn to his name and face.

Gino’s gaze softened, and he sighed. “I know these drills aren’t the most fun, and you’re way more advanced as a soldier, but your rank is not equal to your skill. If you want to be a part of this army, you have to follow its rules.”

“I understand,” Suzaku dipped his head.

Gino gave him a curt nod before turning Tristan away.

 _That was lucky,_ Suzaku sighed. “Lancelot we can’t keep doing this. You know how risky it is.”

Lancelot huffed, shaking his head. Suzaku smiled, reaching down to pat the side of his neck. “I know, I know. Let’s head back.”

Lancelot directed them back, knowing the direction without Suzaku even acknowledging it. He sat back, letting the gentle movement of Lancelot’s rhythm bounce him up and down.

Most of the squad had already left ahead of them; Gino must have dismissed them before he came to speak with Suzaku.

Suzaku shrugged, squeezing Lancelot’s chest to get him moving. He snapped his wings down, beginning to turn back to the base.

As they soared over the open fields, Suzaku let himself slump down in the saddle. Lancelot sparkled like a jewel in the sky, the bright sunlight reflecting off his golden claws as he stretched them forward.

He smiled, taking the reins out of a hand to pat the side of Lancelot’s neck. He could feel his dragon rumble underneath his touch, and a sensation of satisfaction settled in his chest. He was always happiest when alone with Lancelot. Nothing could compare to a bonded dragon.

* * *

He left the stables, letting his feet carry him through the streets. The military dragon base was a short distance travel to the city centre by public transport, but it also wouldn’t take long by foot. So Suzaku decided to walk, using the time to let his thoughts run.

They were starting to get too antsy being held back so much. He and Lancelot were miles ahead of those in his squadron, but because of Suzaku’s… nationality, he wasn’t allowed the luxury of advancement through the ranks as the others would get. _We need to do something grand_ , he thought as he passed by a crowded street. All around him, no one gave him a second glance. _Or at least get acknowledged. Then maybe… people would treat us better._

It was a small hope, and a dumb one, he knew. But he couldn’t help but keep a hold of it anyway.

A flash of purple filled his vision. He jolted back, blinking in surprise. A familiar face passed by him, violet eyes shining in the sunlight.

“Lelouch!” Suzaku grinned. “Yo!”

Lelouch paused, turning around to give Suzaku a small smile. “Ah, soldier Kururugi returns.”

“Hey, I’m always here,” Suzaku chuckled.

“I assume the military is still treating you well?”

“Of course. It’s my greatest achievement.” Suzaku puffs his chest out, despite the way he sees Lelouch’s smile falter.

“If only Britannia would see that.”

Suzaku lets the comment pass; he knows of Lelouch’s distaste for his father’s kingdom, but it was Suzaku’s life. He felt like he rarely had time to see his old friend these days, so he ignored it, instead saying, “As long as Lancelot is with me, we’ll make it.”

Lelouch looked away, his eyes trailing in the direction of the military base. Suzaku knew that look.

“I’m sorry, is that still a sore spot?” Suzaku wet his lips. “I didn’t mean to…”

“It’s fine,” Lelouch waves a hand. “It’s been years, and I have more important things to worry about than dragons.”

He pauses, pressing a hand close to his face. “I’m glad you’re bonding so well with Lancelot.”

Suzaku dips his head. “He’d love to see you again, I’m sure, if you’d like to visit...”

Lelouch nodded, but it seemed out of politeness more than anything else. “I appreciate the offer, Suzaku, but I’m afraid I’m rather busy right now. It was nice to see you again, though.”

“I understand,” Suzaku sighed. “Take care, Lelouch.”

He watched his friend walk off, long legs taking him away from the main streets. He wondered where Lelouch was going. What did his friend even do these days, if he wasn’t actively a prince anymore? What kept him so busy? _Maybe it’s just university work,_ he reasoned. He had no idea what advanced schooling was like, since he ran off to the military after high school, but he had gotten enough snippets from his conversations with the ex-prince to know it was a step above.

_Next time, I’ll have to ask him._

* * *

The base’s alarm system was blaring through every speaker, jolting Suzaku awake.

He stumbled out of bed, pulling on as much uniform as he could muster before surging out of his room.

Out in the corridors, other soldiers were running for their dragons, storming around every corner and junction. Suzaku ducked and weaved through them, and when it was too crowded, shouldered past stunned guards.

He reached the stables where the dragons slept. He could already see Lancelot sticking his head out, an eye trained on Suzaku as he made his way forward.

“You ready to go bud?” he asked, flinging open the door. Lancelot sprung out, jogging around in a circle and nudging at Suzaku to hurry.

“I know, I know, but we can’t take off without your saddle,” Suzaku batted his dragon’s head away, moving to the front of the stall to rip the saddle off. Lancelot was brimming underneath him, seconds away from leaping into the air.

Once the final strap was in place, he leaped over Lancelot’s side, securing his position before shouting, “now!”

Lancelot _roared_ , taking off immediately. All around them other soldiers and dragons were also doing the same, the higher levels of the stables covered in the colourful wings of beasts.

Suzaku’s dragon may not have been the fastest with his bulky form, but he had experience, and Suzaku knew how to work him. He nudged at Lancelot’s sides, slapping the reins. Lancelot surged forward, following the others out of the city.

They flew past the barrier walls, out into the fields beyond. Most of it was agriculture land, but because of the food source there were giant infrastructures in place between properties to store waiting harvests. It was over one of these they found the Black Knights. _No doubt trying to steal resources_ , Suzaku frowned.

He caught sight of it; Zero’s dragon soaring high above them all. He could make out the man on the back, cape whipping violently in the wind.

Zero always seemed to have a different dragon with him every time. Tonight, it was a deep blue beast, with a yellow stream running down the back and tail. Zero appeared tall on its back, his lanky legs swallowing around the saddle and chest.

“We meet again, Kururugi,” Zero’s deep voice boomed.

“Zero,” Suzaku sneered in return. “Here to give yourself up?”

“When Britannia’s reign has ended,” Zero replied smoothly. It was always the same interaction between the two of them. Neither was willing to budge, to listen.

“Fine,” Suzaku gritted his teeth. He urged Lancelot forward, charging Zero’s latest dragon. Lancelot snarled, snapping his teeth at the blue dragon. Zero dodged easily, manipulating his dragon’s movements like they were linked.

It was hard to tell, whether or not Zero had his own dragon. But he had a feeling he didn’t. Something in the way Zero held himself made Suzaku think he didn’t have a bonded. _And that’s why he’ll never win,_ Suzaku frowned. He doesn’t value those around him.

Zero snapped the reins on his dragon, and its mouth began to light up. _A fire dragon!_ Suzaku realised. He had seconds to react, pressing into Lancelot’s sides. He dived, right as Zero’s dragon shot fire from its mouth.

He felt more than saw Lancelot’s pain, the tops of his wings singing in the blast. “Lancelot! Hold on!” His dragon grunted, straining with each beat, but they never lost altitude; he kept their pace steady.

“Tail swing! Now!” he ordered. Lancelot sprung immediately, and Suzaku gripped the saddle for his life. The leather straps attached to his belt kept him grounded to Lancelot’s back, but it never hurt to be safe.

Lancelot’s back spines connected with part of Zero’s dragon’s rump, and Suzaku hear the satisfying roar of a direct hit. Lancelot straightened himself, hovering a slight distance away at the ready for more orders.

“Damn it Kururugi,” Suzaku heard Zero mutter. Zero dipped his dragon down, the wings curling up by its side and it dropped.

 _He’s escaping!_ Suzaku tugged at Lancelot, and his dragon chased after Zero.

Luckily for him, Lancelot’s bulk meant he was faster at falling. He caught up with Zero’s dragon, claws reaching out to tear down its back-

And Suzaku was reeling out of breath. He rolled around Lancelot, who struggled to keep them upright.

“Lancelot! Beat your wings in reverse!” Suzaku yelled. He wasn’t sure if his dragon heard him, or just felt what he wanted through the reins, but Lancelot eventually stopped tumbling, throwing his wings out to stabilise. He roared, turning to their side, and Suzaku saw what had hit them.

Guren hovered before them, and on her back; Kallen.

“Suzaku,” she growled.

“Kallen,” he snapped back. She was always getting in his way. Just when he had Zero, she appeared as if on cue.

“You’re not getting Zero, Britannia hound!”

“That’s original,” Suzaku grunted. “Think of these insults when you’re taking orders from a terrorist?”

“Better than lapping up the scraps under the table of a master.”

Suzaku let his lip curl back. “Hmph.” He made Lancelot rush forward, swiping low at Guren’s jaw. Kallen kept her dragon back, flinching away. She paused suddenly, a hand to the earpiece over her ear.

“Understood!” she said, and Guren suddenly pulled away.

“No! Lancelot, pursue!” Suzaku yelled. Lancelot roared, surging forward. Guren was fast, and already had a head start. She was ducking and weaving more than Lancelot could hope to do, but Suzaku was keeping a decent pace.

“ _Kururugi_!” Gino’s voice crackled over his earpiece. “ _Do not pursue! They have an ambush squad beyond the hills! Let them retreat!”_

 _Shit,_ Suzaku forced Lancelot upward, flicking on his com line. “Understood, sir.”

He reached down to pat the side of Lancelot’s neck, who grunted in response. His head swung around to pin one narrowed eye at his rider.

“Back home now, boy, let’s go.” Lancelot grumbled, but followed his orders.

As Lancelot leisurely flew back to base, Suzaku let his mind wander. What had been Zero’s goal in attacking them here? Had it just been to flush someone out? But then, who? Gino Weinberg was the only Rounds stationed at Tokyo, and they had even less of a military force to care about. Most of their rank were low standing foot soldiers or calvary, Suzaku himself included.

So then why… What did Zero want? _Unless, he was just testing the waters somehow,_ Suzaku thought. He always seems to be three steps ahead of the government. They could just be playing into his hands…

The flashing lights of the military base alerted him to their arrival. Lancelot snorted at him softly, one eye glancing back at Suzaku to check on him.

“Take us down, boy,” Suzaku nudged him. Lancelot began his decent, following the path of the others around them to the ground.

Once Suzaku wriggled off the saddle, Lancelot trotted back into his stable. “Hey, wait Lancelot!” Suzaku chased after him, wrestling the straps to release the saddle. “Dumb dragon.”

Lancelot just blew hot air in his face.

“Yes yes, goodbye to you too,” Suzaku huffed. He left his dragon to his own devices, returning to his quarters.

There was no follow up announcement about the Zero attack, and he doubted they would be given one. Not when Suzaku’s rank was so low, and that he was…

He sighed. It wasn’t worth it.

His phone buzzed in his pocket, jolting him out of his mind. He flipped it over to check the caller ID. He frowned. A call from… Lelouch? Suzaku answered immediately. “Lelouch?”

“Hi Suzaku,” Lelouch’s warm voice came through the phone. “How are you?”

“Since yesterday?” Suzaku chuckled. “I’m doing fine, thanks. What’s up?”

“I just wanted to see if you’d be free tomorrow.”

So soon? Suzaku frowned. “To catch up?”

“Yeah…”

“Sorry, but I don’t think I can. I have drills tomorrow, and we were just attacked by Zero.

“Oh? Zero attacked?” Lelouch hummed. “That’s not good. Are you all right? Lancelot okay?”

“Yes he’s fine,” Suzaku replied. He glanced over to check on his dragon, who had already settled down to sleep. “Exhausted, I think, from all the activity today and tonight, but he’ll be fine.”

“You really shouldn’t take him out tomorrow, then, should you?”

“No, but I have no choice,” Suzaku sighed. “We’ll be fine, don’t worry.”

“I’m not,” Lelouch muttered. “But do take extra care, would you? You told me the other day you’ve been drilling a lot recently. That must be exhausting.”

Suzaku smiled at that. “I will be careful, don’t worry. Thanks for checking up on me, Lelouch.”

“No problem. When you get the time, Nunnally would love to talk to you too.”

“Then I owe my lady a phone call,” Suzaku chuckled.

“You do.” The line cut out, and Suzaku pocketed his phone.

 _That was not like him at all,_ he thought. Lelouch never called just to ‘check-up’. Something must be off. Maybe he wanted to talk in private about it? He hoped nothing was wrong with them, and that they were still keeping a low profile. _Maybe he shouldn’t be walking around so frequently…_

He made a mental note to text Lelouch about it later. 

Until then, he _really_ needed some sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For a visual reference of Lancelot (and admittedly spoilers for Lelouch's dragon later I guess but it's obvious and you all wanna see don't lie) [Here is a post I made of them.](https://ashethehedgehog.tumblr.com/post/618460196072734720)  
> My friends tell me that hiding Lancelot's bod is criminal, so here you go.  
> This fic will have some canon story elements, and some that I've just thrown out the window for my own fanon. It'll be a mix, a pick and chose affair. I follow some events to progress my own story and I make up new ones because I want to.  
> I can't promise updates smoothly or anything. I'm a decent length ahead, but I have to do a lot of rereading and editing to check my pacing before I'm comfortable sharing. Please bear with me I work on a million projects at once!  
> Many thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think!  
> Ashe out <3


	2. Chapter 2

Lelouch drummed his fingers against the table, listening to those around him yell at each other.

“Surely we should do something about it, then?” Ohgi asked.

Kallen shook her head. She pointed to the place on the map they had attacked yesterday. “We have the supplies from the raid, and the Britannians haven’t seemed to have noticed stolen goods yet.”

“Indeed,” Lelouch drawled, his voice crackling through the mask’s amplifier. “We should be lying low for the next few days.”

A mutter of agreements came from around the table.

“Except we won’t.”

Everyone froze.

“The military is tired right now from all their practice, and with the call out yesterday night, they’re running on even less sleep and energy. It’s the perfect time to strike.”

“But Zero,” Kallen protested. “Our forces could use a break too. We’ve been running around on tired feet for days. Surely…”

“You can rest after today,” Lelouch replied. “But we need to continue to strike while the military is weak. Otherwise, we may never get a chance like this again.”

“As you wish, Zero.”

“Good. I need a new dragon.”

“There’s a few without riders in the stables,” Ohgi said. “At the end of the dock.”

“I know the place, thank you,” Lelouch nodded. He rose from the table, and everyone around him scrambled to stand as well. “Dismissed.”

With that, he spun on his heels, trotting off.

He hated having to constantly cow dragons into obedience, but he had no choice. Without a proper established bond, no dragon would accept him as their rider. He let his fists curl in anger by his sides, eyes narrowing at the path ahead.

If only he had gotten the chance to have his ceremony growing up. If only the war with Japan hadn’t thrown out his title and life.

 _There’s no point wishing in the past,_ Lelouch huffed, pushing the thought away. _I have to focus on the future._

He heard the clack of heels before a body fell into step beside him. He glanced to his side, watching the shiny green hair catch every fluorescent light from above.

“Lord Zero,” she said, tone as dull and lifeless as her eyes.

Lelouch rolled his own behind his mask. “CC. What a surprise.”

“You need my help,” she shrugged. “Unless you _don’t_ want me to link you to another dragon and allow you to renter the battlefield. Might do you some good to not throw yourself at Suzaku Kururugi for once.”

“I do _not_ ,” Lelouch hissed. “Just shut up and follow me.”

They passed a doorway into a huge hanger bay, cut into sections dotted with smaller buildings. Before, in the older days of technology, they had probably housed machines of war. But now, each one hoarded a pack of dragons, a screaming mess of sound and smell.

Stationed at each stall building were a few soldiers, milling around the entrance to the stables.

“Sir!” the soldiers all stood to attention, some even giving him half salutes. He felt his lips twitch at the gesture.

“I’m here for a new dragon.” He said, even if he didn’t have to. They knew why he was there, it was the only reason he ever came to visit the stables.

The soldiers didn’t understand exactly how Lelouch managed to control dragons as he did, but they didn’t question their leader’s ways. Not when Lelouch got them the results they wanted. It was the one saving grace of the Black Knights, the one thing they didn’t question.

“Yes, Lord Zero.” The soldiers nodded, walking away.

He watched them leave, then scanned the area quickly to double check for anyone milling around. When he was sure the coast was clear, he reached up to take his mask off. Pulling the fabric down off his mouth, he took in a breath of fresh air, shaking out his hair. It fell in matted clumps around his face, sweaty and damp.

“Let’s go.”

He stepped into the stables, gently closing the door behind him. At his presence, the dragons swerved their heads up, eyeing him carefully.

Lelouch smiled, holding out his hands in a non-threatening way. “Hey. I’m not here to hurt you. I just need some help.”

He stayed in the middle of the stalls, walking slowly. Each dragon he passed growled at him, teeth bared. One tried to leap forward, snapping its jaws as close to Lelouch as it could get.

He sighed, letting his hands drop by his sides. _So that is how it must be yet again,_ he stared down each dragon, making his decision. A pale-yellow beast caught his eye, and he stopped in front of it.

“You’ll do for now,” he muttered. The dragon looked offended, snorting at him. “CC.”

“I know,” CC stepped forward. The dragon immediately dropped its guard, blinking wide eyes down at CC.

She reached up to touch the dragon’s cheek, caressing it slowly. It cooed softly in response, pressing closer.

“I need you to follow him now.” She whispered. The dragon turned to watch Lelouch, its mouth dipping down.

He saw the dragon struggle CC’s control for a moment, its eyes flashing in anger, before it settled down, bowing its head in surrender to him.

“Good. Come here,” he motioned it forward, and the dragon trotted up to him, lifting its head up over the stable door to sniff at Lelouch’s hand.

He smoothed his palm over its head, his expression passive and emotionless. “Wait here until I call for you.”

The dragon rumbled in agreement, as they always did. “Thank you, CC.”

“You’re welcome,” she said blankly.

He walked away, sighing to himself. He was getting tired of this.

* * *

The Black Knights were attacking again. A scheduled raid, perhaps, but Suzaku didn’t miss the transport trucks below, carrying some kind of supplies between cities. It was timed so well Suzaku suspected inside information had leaked. _Zero knows… too much._

They had been on patrol, which had made their approach to the battle faster, already mobilised and in the sky.

Lancelot pushed an attacking dragon away, snapping at the back spikes as they hurriedly flew out of range.

Suzaku reined him back in with the others. Lancelot was too bulky to fit in with their formation, constantly bumping up against the short wings of his squad mates.

“Keep your dragon in line, Kururugi!” One of them barked at him.

“Sorry!” he shouted back, tugging Lancelot to swing slightly behind the others.

Lancelot seemed unhappy, but allowed Suzaku to do so.

Their team was, much to his pain to admit, not suited for frontal battle. Most of the others in the troupe had small dragons, or long ones suited to speed. They would make better scouts than battlers.

Lancelot was the only one who could stand his own against most of the other Black Knights, if not all of them.

However, if Guren and Kallen were to come out and attack them now, they’d be in trouble. Her long claws and incredible range mean Suzaku had to be careful fighter her. Lancelot wasn’t fast enough to match her speed, and it mean she could duck and weave strikes on his dragon easier.

A Black Knight swooped up from behind them, slashing at Lancelot’s tail. A claw caught on the thick keratin spikes at the tip, snagging and pulling them backwards.

Lancelot screeched, kicking the dragon in the face to loosen the grip, enough to whip his tail away and get distance between them.

Suzaku noticed two more Black Knight dragons join the attacking one, all three looming over him. _Shit, I’m in trouble._

“Lancelot, we need a miracle here bud,” he grit his teeth together, straining his hands against the leather of the reins.

Lancelot roared, flying upward of his own accord.

“L-Lancelot?” Suzaku stammered. He tugged at the leads, but Lancelot wasn’t responding. “Lancelot! What’s wrong?”

“ _Kururugi_!” He heard the Knight of Three screaming through the com link. “ _Get back into formation!”_

“I can’t, Lancelot is-” he never got the chance to finish his sentence, Lancelot screaming over the top of everything around them.

His wings began to shimmer, bathing Suzaku in a blue light. He winced, squinting through the glow to watch as crystallised spears shot out all around him.

“What the- Lancelot!” he barked down at his dragon. Despite how upset he was, he couldn’t hold back the awe he felt from what his dragon was doing. _He’s shooting… bullets! From his wings!_ He realised. Laughter bubbled up from his chest. And it was his dragon!

“Never mind, keep doing whatever you’re doing Lancelot!” he cackled. Lancelot kept roaring, throwing his head around. His wings beat violently against his sides, all the while continuing his barrage of crystals.

In the range of the attack, they hit a few of the Black Knights’ dragons, the screams of pain echoing around the clearing. One crashed into one of the trucks below, shattering metal debris all over the ground.

The rest of the Black Knights fled the area, the cry of retreat sounding all around them.

Lancelot huffed, the glow of his wings disappearing and with it, the shards. Suzaku reached down to pat his neck, whispering softly. “Good job.”

He then remembered the intercom, pressing the com line open. “Kururugi here. Sir Weinberg? The enemy has been defeated in this area. Your orders?”

“ _Kururugi, what the fu_ -” Gino caught himself, audibly clearing his throat on the line. “ _What happened_?”

“I’m not sure, I think…” he bit his lip. “I think Lancelot learnt something new.”

“ _Something new_?” Gino repeated. “ _Shit he probably… all right, head back to base. We’ll handle the rest; I want you to report to Earl Asplund with this new information_.”

 _Earl Asplund?_ Suzaku frowned. _From the research division?_ “Yes sir.”

“ _Good, go_!”

“Yes sir!”

He snapped the reins forward, and Lancelot spurred into action. He charged forward, flapping his wings at an accelerating rate. Suzaku kicked a heel into Lancelot’s left side, and they turned, leaving behind the skirmish remnants and heading towards the city once more.

Once they were cruising through the agriculture lands, he bent down to whisper to his dragon. “Lancelot?” He received a snort in response. “What did you do back there?”

Lancelot swung his head back around, flexing his nostrils. His eye drifted to his wing, then back to Suzaku. He shook his head, focusing forward again.

“No idea huh?” Suzaku sighed. “That makes two of us. Hopefully the earl knows what going on. I’d hate to get taken off active duty if it’s something bad.”

Lancelot whined, bowing his head. “But if you’re hurt at all, then we shouldn’t go back out,” Suzaku protested. “I don’t want to, but it’s more important that you’re in good health, Lancelot. I won’t force you out onto the field if you’re hurting.”

One lone, large eye came up to blink at him. Suzaku smiled. “You come first bud, you always do.”

Lancelot cooed at that, flapping around irregularly in the air, jolting Suzaku around in the saddle. He laughed, hanging on while Lancelot snapped his jaws happily.

It seemed like they barely had time to have fun these days. When they weren’t on active duty, Suzaku was busy with usual foot soldier duties, and then, sleep happened.

He could feel how Lancelot agreed with him, cheerfully roaring into the sky.

Their time was cut short as the military base came into view. Without anyone else to dock, Lancelot landed easily. Instead of going back to his stable, however, Suzaku pushed him forward, to the far wall of the hangar. There was a door large enough for dragons to pass comfortably through, and written above it were the words _Dragon Research and Development_.

Suzaku had never stepped foot into the building offshoot before. Mostly it was for people from the DRAD team, and anything they needed they retrieved themselves. Suzaku hadn’t even met the earl for all the time he had spent in the same base as him. But then, he was just a soldier in the dragon ranks, not anything worth a second glance for the research division.

He passed through the doors into a completely different area. The walls were lined with thick machinery, and between each piece was the kind of padding Suzaku had only seen in movies. The kind at asylums. _Protection for what?_ Suzaku frowned. Rogue and scared dragons _,_ he supposed.

In the middle of the room was a large, metallic frame of a dragon, haloed in a ring of scaffolding. It made Lancelot look small, and that wasn’t easy considering Lancelot was a fighter class dragon; he was born to be large and bulky. _Is this based on a real dragon?_ He stared up in awe. _How could one get that big? They would have to be ancient…_

Soft mewling caught his attention, and he looked to the side of the room to see four baby dragons. They crowded around a lady, who didn’t seem to notice his presence, despite how Lancelot stomped around.

“Excuse me?” Suzaku cleared his throat. The lady jumped, blinking over at him in surprise. The dragons all huddled around the lady’s waist, blinking up at Lancelot’s bulky frame. Lancelot snorted loudly, and Suzaku swore he was holding himself just that little bit taller.

“Oh? I don’t remember sending for anyone. Who are you?” She kept her hands busy as she spoke, sending the young dragons off down the hall. They scampered away, squealing and stealing looks back at Lancelot before a door shut them out.

“I’m Suzaku Kururugi, soldier in squad four of the cavalry under Sir Weinberg. I was told to speak with Earl Asplund.”

“I see,” the lady nodded. “For what?”

“Well,” Suzaku shifted, wriggling off Lancelot’s back. “In the last skirmish we had with the Black Knights, Lancelot here did something strange. He… seemed to form some kind of crystal from his wings and shot them out at the enemy. He’s never done that before.”

The lady’s eyes widened, but before she could reply, there was the sound of something metallic crashing in the background. They both turned to watch a tall, lanky man rush down from the scaffolding surrounding the metal dragon.

“Crystals, did you say?” He asked before he had even stopped running. “Tell me more!”

“Uh… I’m sorry, that’s all I know,” Suzaku frowned. He gestured to Lancelot. “Not even my dragon knew what he was doing, I think…”

“And you could sense this?” the man blinked comically at him. Suzaku nodded.

The man spun around, grabbing onto the lady. “Cecile! This is fantastic! A live case of evolution for us to study!”

The lady- Cecile, didn’t seem impressed. “Lloyd, you know we need permission before we do anything with a dragon.”

“Yes yes I know,” he waved her off, turning back to Suzaku. “Who are you boy, and what is this wonderful dragon’s story you have brought me?”

And Suzaku explained as much as he could; about himself, his bonding with Lancelot, and his time serving in the military with his dragon. Lloyd nodded along as he spoke, an expression of rapture on his face. While Cecile had seemed uneasy at the beginning, the more Suzaku talked about Lancelot, the more excited she became as well.

“This is fantastic,” she grinned. “We need to start running tests, to be sure, of course, but… Lloyd, what if-”

“I know,” Lloyd shared her grin. “An opportunity like this doesn’t just come around so often.” He walked around to the front of Lancelot, reaching up to grab both sides of the dragon’s face.

Suzaku instinctively moved to interrupt, but he felt no aggression coming from his dragon. “You’re beautiful! And so big!”

Lloyd moved Lancelot’s head around, examining him closely. “A fighter class I see, yes. Very strong. What does he eat mostly?”

“I um…” Suzaku felt a blush tinge his cheeks. “I’m not sure. I don’t get to feed him much myself.”

“Same as everyone else, I suppose.” Lloyd sounded disappointed, clicking his tongue. “We’ll need to change that.”

“Why?” Suzaku blinked.

“Oh no,” Cecile shook her head, sighing. “I’ve seen that look before. You better get used to sharing your dragon now, Suzaku.”

 _Sharing?_ Suzaku frowned, looking up at his dragon. Lancelot’s eyes were on him, and if Suzaku didn’t know any better he would think Lancelot was silently begging for his help. He smiled, shaking his head. He reached up to fiddle with the earring dangling from his left ear.

“So what happens now?”

“You need to ditch that squadron you’re in,” Lloyd said, casually, like he wasn’t just about to tear up Suzaku’s whole world. “Move to the special barracks, but keep Lancelot close. I want to be able to work on him even when you’re not around.”

“Work on him how?” Suzaku blinked.

“To study him! See how his evolution is affecting his biology, and how it might be triggered. Fascinating stuff. Also the armour, of course…” Lloyd was already walking off, half mumbling to himself.

Cecile turned to him, offering a warm smile. “Don’t mind Lloyd, he gets like that around dragons. I can show you to the special squad barracks if you want.”

“Yes please, thank you.”

“You’ll have to leave Lancelot here, Lloyd will want to run diagnostic on him in a moment.”

“All right.” Suzaku was uneasy at having to part from his dragon so soon, but he knew he had no choice. “Lancelot, stay here. Earl Asplund is going to be looking after you for a bit.”

Lancelot scrunched his nose up, snorting loudly. He butted his head against Suzaku’s until Suzaku reached up to pat him. He then huffed, lying down on the ground and closing his eyes.

Suzaku took it as a good sign Lancelot would stay, letting Cecile drag him away down a side passageway. He could barely keep his bearings about him, the corridor turning sharply and Cecile leading him through several doors with panels. It felt confusing, but somehow, he knew he’d get used to it.

“Here you are, this room is empty.” Cecile stopped in front of a keypad, flashing her ID against it. The door opened with a _woosh_ , and Suzaku stepped inside.

It was as modest as his current- _previous_ set up, but it still felt more spacious, and homely. And it was private; he wouldn’t have to deal with the constant scornful looks from his workmates.

“Thank you, ma’am,” Suzaku ducked his head at her.

“It’s Cecile,” Cecile smiled at him. “No need for titles, we’ll be working together from now on!”

Suzaku just kept his head down, feeling his cheeks flush. “Cecile, then. Thank you.”

“See you tomorrow, Suzaku. Sleep well!”

He waved her off, closing the door to lean against it with a sigh.

 _Did that really just happen?_ He wondered. _Or is this a dream?_ But then, he had felt the surge of power through Lancelot, saw the damage he caused. It felt like no dream he had had before, and most nights he didn’t have enough time to dream for so long.

He had spent so many nights wondering if something would happen to them, when they would get a chance to shine through and prove their worth.

And all because Lancelot had done something different. “I really owe it to that dragon,” he chuckled, shifting under the sheets.

Not for the first time, he counted his lucky stars for having Lancelot choose him as his rider.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I contemplated keeping Geass in this fic, but it felt like it conflicted with the world too much, and it threatened to swallow a lot of what I wanted to do, and make it redundant. So, goodbye Geass lmao. Besides, need an excuse to keep CC around to poke at Lelouch~  
> Also I'm writing her name without the full stops between each C. Just a personal choice; I enjoy the look more.


	3. Chapter 3

Suzaku stared up at the ceiling, tapping a foot in the air. For a few days, Lancelot had been with the DRAD, the earl keeping his dragon for tests by himself. It had left Suzaku with little to nothing to do, except rest and lounge around his room.

It was nice, to take a step back from hectic army life. But he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being _useless_ sitting around doing nothing, while others were out fighting the Black Knights without him. He had to constantly drill the idea in his mind that this waiting was for a _good_ reason, and that he and Lancelot would be back on the field stronger in time.

“ _Suzaku Kururugi, please report to the DRAD department immediately_.”

 _My turn, finally,_ he kicked off the bed, straightening his uniform. It still felt weird, the whites and browns clashing with the darks more than the solid black shade he had worn as an average foot soldier. _In just a few days, barely a week… so much has changed._

At least Lancelot by his side was a constant source keeping him grounded. He had no idea what he would do without his bonded.

And so, stepping into the DRAD building, he couldn’t stop the spike of fear from rising when he couldn’t see Lancelot.

“Ah, there he is! My new favourite test subject!” Lloyd waved him over.

“How’s Lancelot going?” Suzaku asked before he could stop himself.

“He’s in a test right now,” Lloyd said, and Suzaku relaxed. “But now that you’re here we can finally do rider tests.”

Suzaku just nodded.

They spent the entire morning going through Lloyd’s tests, Suzaku taking Lancelot out for drills in the sky. It was strange to do them alone, without squadmates around him, but somehow, it also felt more right. Lancelot’s bulky frame meant he struggled to fit into predisposed unit formations.

Alone, Lancelot seemed to excel with his strengths, free to move where he wished, and where Suzaku could take him.

Lloyd sounded excited, his manic laughter travelling through the com link. “ _Suzaku, can you get Lancelot to summon the crystals now?_ ”

“I’ll try,” Suzaku replied. He didn’t even know how Lancelot had done it the first time. He wasn’t even sure his dragon could repeat the action. “Lancelot? Can you do that thing with your wings again?”

Lancelot hovered in the air, glancing back at him. They were out of the city, a fair distance from the farms. They had to play it safe, in case the range exceeded the first time, and they couldn’t risk anyone getting hurt from it.

Lancelot pulled up suddenly, flexing his muscles under Suzaku’s feet. Suzaku felt how tense he was, each wingbeat _wooshing_ loudly close to his ears.

 _You can do it, Lancelot,_ Suzaku gripped the reins, waiting with his breath held. He felt the familiar touch of warmth beside him, from both the left and right.

Lancelot’s wings began to shine, and Suzaku let out a whoop. “That’s it boy! Go!” His dragon growled, throwing his wings out to their full length. Almost immediately, the bright blue crystals shot out of his wing membrane.

“Earl Asplund! We have results!” he shouted down the line.

“ _Excellent_!” Lloyd cackled back. “ _And that’s Lloyd, thanks. I’ve got live data from the feed, keep him up as much as you can_!”

“Yes sir!” Suzaku squeezed Lancelot’s sides, and the dragon roared. He kept the spray of energy going, wings beating to accelerate the effect.

They remained in that state for what felt like minutes, before the charge of shards began to slow. Suzaku looked down, noticing the strained look on Lancelot’s face, his tongue lolling out in exhaustion.

“That’s enough, Lancelot,” he said, switching his mic back on. “Ea- uh, Lloyd, sir, Lancelot is done for now.”

“ _Understood, return to base_.”

“Yes sir.” Suzaku slapped the reins forward, and Lancelot jolted into action. He snapped his wings down, the glow fading, and he let them drop into an easy glide.

The lazy afternoon sun dripped down on the horizon, lighting up the peak of the city in a halo of orange. Suzaku glanced behind them, at the flowing fields already cast into darkness. _Have we really been out here all day?_ He chuckled. _It sure doesn’t feel like it._

Lancelot landed down outside the hangar, shaking himself out. Suzaku patted his neck, urging him forward. He trotted down the pathway, towards the open door frame. They skirted around the main area of stables, moving to the back and through the DRAD passageways.

As soon as they entered, Lloyd waved them through past the metal dragon frame. “Suzaku! Over here, I want to check Lancelot’s vitals.”

“Yes sir,” Suzaku mumbled, scrambling off his dragon and letting Lloyd take over.

“Suzaku,” Cecile called to him. “Come over here and help me while Lloyd is busy with Lancelot.”

“Coming Miss Cecile!” Suzaku raced over, stopping by her side. She was bent over a computer, fingers dancing over the keys.

“The data we got from today’s test will help us with Lloyd’s newest project. Should keep him happy for a while, and maybe let you two take a break.”

“I’ve been doing nothing but taking a break recently,” Suzaku smiled. “But maybe leaving base would do some good. I can’t take Lancelot, though, is it alright to leave him here?”

“Of course, we’ll look after him.”

“Thank you miss Cecile.” Suzaku offered her a sort bow before leaving.

He wasn’t sure exactly what he could do in the city, but anything would help alleviate his boredom. Shopping wasn’t his kind of thing, unless he was with someone else. _That reminds me…_ Suzaku whipped out his phone, dialling Lelouch’s number. He waited, unaware he was holding his breath until he heard that soft voice.

“ _Suzaku?”_ Lelouch answered. “ _What’s wrong?_ ”

 _Of course the first thing he asks is that,_ Suzaku chuckled.

“Nothing,” he smiled. “But I have some time off work. You want to catch up?”

There was silence on the line, and then, “ _I could make some time, yes. Meet me in half an hour?”_

“Of course, I’ll wait for you. Same place as always?”

He could practically hear the smile in Lelouch’s voice. “ _Yes. Until then, take care_.”

“You too.” Suzaku couldn’t quite reply as Lelouch cut off the line. Despite the fact they would be seeing each other so soon, and Lelouch answering his phone meant he _was_ fine, Suzaku couldn’t help but voice it anyway. They had been through so much, and while he was sure Lelouch remembered it for different reasons, Suzaku still had nightmares of a sea of bodies.

* * *

He sat down outside, nursing a coffee between his hands. The weather was still warm, winter waiting around the bend, but he always thought better with something occupying his hands anyway.

What would Lancelot’s evolution mean for them now? His dragon was stronger, and had caught the attention of high-ranking individuals. With Lloyd Asplund and Miss Cecile so interested in Lancelot, Suzaku would be forced to stick around, a necessary device in the cog. _Is this a good thing?_ He wondered, staring up at the buildings surrounding him. _I always wanted to do more, go further, but… Is this the right way?_

“Suzaku.” Lelouch’s warm voice snapped him out of his thoughts. His friend was standing over the table, one eyebrow raised elegantly on his face in silent question.

“Yo, Lelouch,” Suzaku greeted in his usual cheery way. Lelouch sent a smile his way, motioning down to the coffee.

“I’ll just go order.”

“Right.”

Lelouch walked away, leaving Suzaku with his thoughts once more.

He shook his head; it didn’t matter where they went, as long as they continued fighting for what they believed in. He knew Lancelot felt the same, wanted to keep going. And as long as Lancelot was safe and happy, Suzaku was willing to do anything.

He took a sip from his drink as Lelouch returned holding a cup of his own. “So,” he said, gracefully sliding into the seat opposite Suzaku. “What’s new?”

“Lancelot’s gotten us promoted,” Suzaku blurted out. He cursed his eagerness; he should have waited to approach it more tactfully.

Lelouch didn’t seem to mind, or care, though, his smile widening. “Lancelot got you promoted? What did he do, capture Zero?”

Suzaku laughed at that. “I wish. Then we might have even been qualified for a knighthood! No, he… evolved, somehow.”

“Evolved?” Lelouch tilted his head. “That’s rare to hear of.”

“You know of it?”

“I’ve read about it before,” Lelouch waved a hand dismissively, what he always did when he didn’t know exact details. “It takes a strong bond between a rider and dragon for them to push themselves like that, forcing themselves to get better. You should be proud of what you and Lancelot have accomplished.”

Suzaku beamed at that. “I am, don’t worry.”

Lelouch nodded. He took a careful sip from his drink, gaze drifting off to the side. Suzaku took in the melancholic look in his eyes, the way his lips tilted down. Suzaku sighed.

“What’s happened?”

“Hmm?” Lelouch blinked at him. “Nothing?”

Suzaku pinned him with a look. “You’re upset over something. I know that expression.”

“I am not.”

“Don’t lie to me Lelouch,” Suzaku scoffed. “Just tell me what’s wrong.”

Lelouch flinched, and Suzaku almost apologised, but then his expression softened, and he laughed. “Can’t get anything by you, can I?”

“Never,” Suzaku stuck his nose up. “Now?”

“Alright,” Lelouch sighed in defeat. “I’ve been… worried.”

“And?”

“With current events, it seems like there’s no end in sight to this war.”

“But you’re not in the war, are you?” Suzaku said. At Lelouch’s eyebrow quirk, he continued. “You don’t fight for his majesty.”

“No, I don’t,” Lelouch turned his lip downward. “And never will. Not when he insists on ruling the way he does.”

“Lelouch…” Suzaku sucked in a breath. “That’s not something you should be saying so freely.”

“I’ve abdicated,” Lelouch shrugged. “As father had decreed. I’m no longer a threat to him.”

“I… suppose,” Suzaku sighed. This was another conversation they tended to dance around. He wasn’t surprised when Lelouch changed the topic.

“There’s just… a lot going on,” Lelouch huffed. “Never mind. I think I’m stressing over nothing. Give me some time to think it over and I’m sure I’ll be back to normal soon. These recent raids so close to the city have had me on edge. My sister and I don’t live too far away…”

 _Of course,_ Suzaku kicked himself. Why hadn’t he seen it sooner? Lelouch was worried about Nunnally. He was scared the fighting would reach them and she would be hurt.

“I’m sorry,” Suzaku offered a smile. “Let’s talk about something else.”

And they did. Suzaku let them settle into a more pleasant conversation, taking turns sipping from their drinks until both the flow of speech and coffee was gone.

Suzaku sighed, knowing that their time together was coming to a close.

Lelouch stepped away from the table, slugging his bag over his shoulder. “You should come over for dinner sometime. I know Nunnally misses you.”

“Of course,” Suzaku answered right away. “I’d be honoured.”

“I’ll see you later.” Lelouch waved, trotting off.

“Yes please,” Suzaku smiled back. “Don’t leave it too long!”

He watched Lelouch walk away, feeling his mood dip with each step further apart his friend took. He wished he lived closer, got to see him and Nunnally more. From everyone of their old school group, he was the one off doing the most dangerous work, constantly away and unreachable. Almost every time the gang got back together, Suzaku was off on a mission somewhere. _Next time,_ he promised himself.

Although, with his new position, he had a feeling he wouldn’t be having time off soon.

* * *

Lelouch shoved his hands in his pockets, strolling down the street. All around him, people walked past, chatting and giggling with each other. Everyone seemed so happy, and yet, he could see the outline of unease around them all. Extra police patrols, the occasional double take when someone thought they saw something shady.

He allowed himself a smile at that. Their work was making an impact, then. Good.

He slipped away, down into the industrial area. Nobody gave him a second glance, the casual slick jacket hiding him well. He preferred his usual flashiness, but there was an advantage to blending in at times.

 _Blending in, yes…_ His thoughts drifted to his friend. Up until recently, Suzaku had been nothing but another foot soldier, bearing the same uniform as everyone else. In a crowd of them, Lelouch wouldn’t be able to tell which was his friend.

But now, Suzaku was doing so much to thwart them, and he didn’t even realise it. His sudden jump to the special division had made him stand out more, and it hadn’t gone unnoticed in his forces.

Suzaku was slowly becoming more of a problem, but Lelouch was reluctant to do anything about him yet. He was stuck between keeping his Black Knights in order, and keeping his friend alive.

If only he could reveal himself to Suzaku. If he had Lancelot’s firepower, they would be able to bring Britannia down to its knees. Especially now that Lancelot seemed to be evolving into a stronger beast. He thought back to Suzaku’s smile, and he remembered the way the violet gem had bounced attached to his ear. He still wore it, even after all the years that had passed…

_Suzaku…_

Lelouch sighed, rummaging through his bags for his Zero helmet. He slid it over his head before entering the hide out. He had no time to think about what could be, when it was obvious Suzaku would never leave the Britannian army. He let his Zero persona leak into his form, changing his steps to be heavier and his back arch wider.

He walked into the meeting room, and immediately all heads turned to him. He didn’t waste time with pointless greetings.

“We need to get back on track,” he said. “Up until now, the small raids have kept us well stocked. They’ve also served a double purpose; to confuse and irritate the Britannians.”

“A mixed army cannot stand together.” Diethard nodded, a pleasant grin on his face. Lelouch knew he wouldn’t have to explain his reasoning to Diethard; the man understood his motives well enough to be able to convince the others.

“But small raids will not serve to get more attention. We need to step it up.”

“So what’s our next move, Zero?” Ohgi asked. Everyone huddled that bit closer, a hungry look in their eyes.

Lelouch smirked from behind his helmet. “The next stage.” He turned to Kallen. “I have a job for you…”

* * *

Suzaku yawned, rubbing the back of his hand over a cheek. Beside him, Lancelot snored, happily oblivious to Suzaku’s weariness.

“I wish I had your faith, buddy,” Suzaku sighed. “You just don’t care what’s going on in the bigger world. As long as you have a place to sleep and food to eat you’re fine. Must be nice.”

Lancelot huffed, readjusting his position. Suzaku smiled, reaching out to stroke down his side. He glanced up at his dragon’s wings, noticing the slight shimmer to them. _Things have improved for us, haven’t they?_ He hummed. _And it’s all thanks to you. I’ve done nothing in this equation. I don’t really deserve this new treatment; I’m still nothing more than a foot soldier…_

Lancelot cracked open an eye, huge pupil staring at him. Suzaku flinched under the gaze. “I’m sorry. Not good thoughts, right?”

Lancelot growled. He nipped at Suzaku, blowing hot air on his face.

“You’re right,” Suzaku sighed. “We both have work to do. More important things to focus on.”

Lancelot said nothing, but somehow managed to look smug regardless.

“Su-za-ku,” Lloyd sung, strutting up to where they were sitting. “I need Lancelot. You can’t go out today.”

“But…” Suzaku looked over at his dragon. Lancelot sniffed loudly, pawing at his face. He didn’t seem to care either way. Suzaku sighed.

“Alright. You can have him.”

“Good, because you don’t have the authority to tell me otherwise,” Lloyd grinned. Before Suzaku could argue, Lloyd was already dragging his dragon off. Suzaku waved him away, turning back to Cecile.

“Miss Cecile, what would you like me to do in the meantime?”

Cecile blinked up at him, like she had no idea what he was talking about. “Whatever you want? You’re not on the clock anymore, Suzaku. Go out and enjoy yourself.”

“I, uh… okay,” Suzaku nodded. He strode off, wandering the halls with no real destination in mind. Usually, he would let his feet guide him towards his dragon, but now that he was walking away from Lancelot, there was nothing to direct him.

 _Do I go back to my room?_ He wondered. But then, he wasn’t tired, so he’d just end up bored instead. He decided on the gym in a split second, turning on his heel to change direction.

He had gotten no more than ten paces before he noticed two very distinct cloaks wrapped around two very distinct knights ahead of him. He flinched when he met Gino’s gaze.

“Sir Weinberg,” Suzaku straightened with a salute.

“Oh, Kururugi!” Gino’s grin was wide, and he gave a wave. “Come over here!”

Suzaku obliged, giving the Knight of Six a nod as well. “Lady Alstreim.”

“It’s just Anya,” she said quietly. Suzaku gave Gino a questioning glance, but he just shrugged.

“Knight’s orders, you know? Gotta do it.”

“I understand, sir.” _How rare to see the Knight of Six here,_ he thought. She was usually a reserve force, and was new to the Area Eleven front of the war. _They must be taking Zero’s threat more seriously, now._

“Although,” Gino chuckled. “I technically don’t have to, since I’m three ranks above your orders, Anya.”

Suzaku didn’t think it possible, but he swore Gino’s grin grew wider yet. Anya just grunted, her nose shoved in her phone.

“It’s warrant officer now, right?”

“Uh, y-yeah,” Suzaku stumbled, nodding. “How did you know?”

“Well, I was told you left my command,” Gino shrugged. “So I figured you were given a promotion, and sent somewhere else. I looked into it.”

Of course, Gino was a Knight of the Rounds. He could gain access to just about anything in their systems. The only ones with a higher rank were those of royalty, and Suzaku couldn’t imagine any of them would care about one Eleven in their army. Suzaku felt the nervous bubble in his stomach, and reached for his earring to ground him. The smooth amethyst over the pad of his finger calmed him down, reminded him of simpler days, sunshine and warmth on his cheek.

“Gino,” Anya suddenly spoke.

“Hm?” Gino blinked at her. “What is it?”

“Dragons,” she said, like the one word would get her point across. As it turned out, it did.

“Oh right, gotta get Tristan and Mordred over for check-ups,” Gino brushed past Suzaku, turning back to throw him another wave and grin. “Be seeing ya Kururugi!”

“Goodbye,” Anya walked past him.

“Goodbye.” Suzaku watched them leave, a frown forming on his face. Why was Gino so friendly with him? He didn’t know if he would ever understand what made the Britannian knight tick, but then, it was miles better than the treatment everyone else in the army gave him. _The fact a Rounds even speaks to me outside of being on duty is a miracle_ , Suzaku chuckled. _Maybe I am making a difference._

He could hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gino and Anya really are as much fun to write as they are to watch on screen ahaha!  
> Dunno if I can keep up a weekly posting schedule after this; haven't had as much time to work on this fic among my other works, so it's a bit of a lull, slow going for a while. I'll update when I get more writing done, more or less!


	4. Chapter 4

Lelouch crouched down in the dirt, sparing it a disgusted look. It would make his suit filthy by the end of their mission, and that was without even considering what state his cape would be in.

But it was a necessary evil; they needed the intel from this base.

It was a small island off the coast, unassuming, and seemingly nothing more than a checkpoint for incoming ships and their cargo.

But reports from his scouts suggested otherwise, and a tip off gave him reason to believe the Britannians were up to more than they were letting on. Diethard had a way of procuring interesting information, and Lelouch wasn’t about to say no to a possible wild rumour of dark matters.

Maybe he should have brought more than just Kallen, then. But it was a stealth mission, and he needed someone reliable to watch his back. He could think of no one better than Kallen for that.

_Well, no one in the Black Knights,_ he silently mourned. _He’s too stubborn to give up his stupid pride to join us…_

“Zero,” Kallen’s voice brought him back. “There’s an entrance here.”

She was pointing to a gaping hole in the rockface, a crack clearly made by machinery. It was large enough for two dragons to walk through abreast, and he assumed a truck built for off road travelling could reach and fit in as well. _So transport is doable. What would they need to supply, though?_

“Let’s go.” Lelouch mumbled through his helmet. Kallen nodded, and they slipped inside.

It was too dangerous to operate the flashlight just yet, so they hugged the wall and walked as softly as they could.

The tunnel didn’t run for long, cutting away into a large cavern, with a single light cut out from above. So they weren’t deep enough in the mountain to be truly underground, yet. Another passage lurked beyond, against the far wall. _And there it is._

Lelouch pressed up against a nearby storage container, watching two guards walk under the spotlight. Off to the side, where they were heading, was a small building. More of a structure, Lelouch supposed, containing little more than one room inside.

His eyes wandered to the edges of the cave, taking in the way the light flickered out to a ring along the ground. _It doesn’t reach the walls perfectly,_ he noted. _We could skirt around it in the shadows, use the shipping crates to hide when they face that way._

The pace of their movements was irregular and sloppy; clearly either not well trained, or bored out of their minds.

Or some combination, he supposed.

He gestured to the far wall, tracing a path back to where they were along the edges. Kallen watched him, her lips pursed. When he turned to her fully, she nodded in agreement.

They crouched low to the ground, moving as fast as they dared over the uneven rocks. Lelouch hopped behind the first crate just as a guard turned their way, glancing around without seeing much. Once they turned back, Lelouch motioned Kallen to continue.

At one point, Lelouch felt his cape snag on uneven wood, catching splinters. He bit back a curse, chewing on his cheek and carefully tugging the soft fabric off. Kallen saw the whole thing, but wisely, she didn’t comment or gesture anything.

Reaching the exit was easy, and no one raised an alarm when they slipped out of the cavern. Once they were a distance away from the guards, he heard Kallen sigh loudly, flicking on a flashlight.

“What exactly is going on here, Zero? What do they need to guard?”

“Britannia is doing something in secret down here,” Lelouch explained. “What, I do not know yet. We will most likely be able to use it to our advantage, depending on the severity of it.”

They walked and walked, crunching dirt and stone under boots. The path never seemed to stop, winding and drawing them deeper in. Water dripped from the ceiling, crawling down stalagmites reaching enviously for the ground.

“Are we lost?” Kallen asked.

“No,” Lelouch answered. In reality, they _could_ be lost, but he wasn’t about to admit Zero was _wrong_.

“What is even down here?” Kallen huffed. Every direction she shone the flashlight just revealed more rock.

“Whatever they’re hiding, it has to be worth all the secrecy,” Lelouch reasoned. Kallen just nodded, her gaze continuing to wander around as they walked forward.

They soon came to an opening in the tunnel, more akin to a gaping maw of a huge dragon than anything rock-like in comparison. Lelouch stepped out first, letting his cape flutter behind him while Kallen stepped around.

It was an underground cave, covered in the machines of men. Everywhere he turned, Lelouch saw evidence of experimentation. On one side was a series of computers hooked to huge generators. They flashed with constantly shifting values. Lelouch barely gave them a glance, moving to the other side.

There, the cave was wider and deeper. Instead of computers there were huge cages, thick metal bars sealing anything inside off. All of them were empty; all except one in the back.

“Do you see that?” Kallen said. So she had noticed it too. How observant.

He nodded, walking over to it. He couldn’t miss the rank stench of blood, thick and clogging in his nostrils. Each cage he passed had obvious stain marks inside, and he tried his best to ignore them.

“What the fuck?” Kallen whispered. “What have they been doing here?”

“Something horrible,” Lelouch grunted. _Experimentation, by the looks of it. They’re trying to increase or bend something about dragons. Something not natural…_

They reached the cage in the back. Inside was a long black dragon, curled up around itself. Its claws and underbelly were golden, along with its horns. When it stretched a wing out, he noticed the skin between the muscle and bones was gold as well. He also noticed how it was covered in thick chains, holding it down and limiting its movements. _Black and gold, how beautiful,_ he marvelled.

Something tugged inside him, a deep, unsettling feeling. _What is this?_ Lelouch felt his eyes widen. _This... I’ve never…_

He stumbled towards the dragon. Something pulled him further forward. The feeling, the nagging feeling of...

_Who are you?_ His eyes widened as the dragon turned to stare at him, as if seeing him through the mask. There was something in those golden eyes that called to him. Something… familiar? His gaze turned down to the chains. Why was it being tied down? What had it done?

Or… what couldn’t it do?

“Kallen,” he whispered. She immediately jumped to attention.

“Yes Zero?”

“We’re taking this dragon. Help me untie it.”

“But-” she began to protest, warily glancing over. She didn’t need to voice her thoughts; Lelouch could tell.

“I can make it work,” Lelouch nodded to her. “Let’s go.”

He walked up to the cage, placing a hand on the bars. The dragon stirred, raising its head. Within seconds, it was on its feet, walking up to him. He saw Kallen flinch, but Lelouch didn’t budge. The dragon eyed him carefully, head drawing closer.

Lelouch hadn’t even realised what he was doing until his hand reached through to touch the dragon’s head.

“Zero!” Kallen shouted. He snapped his hand back in response, only realising the sudden movement would spook the dragon after making it. _Shit,_ he swore.

The dragon didn’t move. It stayed still, watching him carefully. _Incredible…_ Lelouch sucked in a breath. _It’s tied up, but… That could only mean…_

He shuddered. “Cut it lose. It’ll help us.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Do it.”

Kallen nodded, following his orders. She reached around the back, working the controls. Lelouch watched, unable to stop himself from twitching. His body felt alight with conviction.

“You over there! Stop!”

_No!_ Lelouch spun around, frowning. _Not yet, not here!_

Soldiers began to race into the cavern, spreading out to encircle them. Guns pointed at them from all angles. _Shit…_ Lelouch glanced around, searching for an escape route. _Not good, there’s little chance to move, except between these cages._ He turned back to the dragon, who was staring at him.

He stepped forward, holding out his hand again. The dragon reached out to press its snout against his palm.

His vision blurred, and he felt a presence rub up against his mind. _Gawain_ , Lelouch understood at once. _Your name is Gawain._

The dragon nodded, growling softly. The chains surrounding it snapped away, and the dragon shrugged them off, revealing the full stretch of its wingspan.

“The door is unlocked.” Kallen was by his side once more.

“Good,” Lelouch whispered. “Distract them for me for a moment.”

“Understood.”

Kallen whipped out her pistol, charging forward.

“Shoot her!” A soldier shouted.

Kallen was fast, but with so many enemies firing she was sure to get hit sooner or later. He had to hurry.

“You’re free, get up!” Lelouch called.

The dragon’s eyes widened, and it launched forward. The metal bent under the pressure from its claws, and Gawain roared as he was freed.

He stopped by Lelouch’s side, bending his head down.

“I see. You’re mine, aren’t you?” He sucked in his breath. “My… dragon…”

Gawain dipped his head, nudging Lelouch closer.

Lelouch shook his head. “You’re right, we need to move. Kallen!” He scrambled up onto Gawain’s back, urging him forward.

“Here!” Kallen shouted back. She was behind one of the cages, using the thick metal bars to avoid the bullets.

“Get on!” He shouted. Gawain roared, charging into the soldiers.

They immediately panicked. “The dragon’s free!”

“Shit, run!”

Gawain rushed into the closest one, snapping his jaws around their head then pulling. Lelouch ignored the horrified cry, his dragon already moving onto the next one.

_His dragon._

He felt his breath catch. How good it felt to say that.

Kallen rushed onto the back of Gawain, and immediately without hesitation Gawain took flight.

He snapped his wings down, causing the panic among the soldiers to grow worse.

“Fall back!”

“Run!”

“Save yourself!”

Lelouch smirked, watching them all race away. _Yes, fear my power. Fear Zero!_

As it turned out, Gawain seemed to know exactly where to go. Even though the entrance they had taken the soldiers were now running through, Gawain soared over them. The close proximity to the air flow knocked over a few fleeing people.

The distance it had taken them half an hour to traverse before Gawain ate within minutes. They burst out into the daylight, Gawain’s body practically glowing in the sun. Lelouch couldn’t suppress his laugh anymore.

Things were finally going his way.

* * *

“Lancelot, move your left front leg up would you? Yes, just like that, good.”

“Lloyd, the results show an improvement to the specs in the right. Movement should be easier for Lancelot now.”

“Mmm that’s good.”

Suzaku watched the tests from his spot against the wall. There was no need for him to be there, they were tests for Lancelot, nothing to do with him. But he wanted to be present; nowhere made him feel less anxious than beside his dragon.

“Suzaku?” He looked up. Cecile waved him over.

“You want to take over from Lloyd? I think Lancelot might react better to you.”

“Sure.” He trotted up to his dragon, reaching up to scratch under his chin. Lloyd sighed, stepping back.

“Fine, fine. But watch my machinery Kururugi!”

“Yes sir,” Suzaku snickered. “What do you need him to do next?”

Cecile was clicking away at the laptop, lifting her gaze to point towards the metal plates along Lancelot’s back. “Check the position of the plates on his spine. They need to be tight enough to not move, but also not hinder his movement.”

“Yes ma’am,” he moved around to Lancelot’s side, his dragon’s head following him. He gave one of the straps an experimental tug, feeling the weight settle back into place.

“How does that feel?” he asked. Lancelot grumbled, reaching as far about to his spine as he could. He sniffed, nibbling on a metal plate.

“Try jumping and stretching your wings,” Suzaku suggested.

Lancelot did as he bid, shaking his body around and jumping. He heard Lloyd shout behind them, while Cecile tried to quiet him back down. Suzaku just laughed.

“All right boy, I think that’s enough.” Lancelot stopped, turning to look at him. He blinked his huge turquoise eyes, rumbling softly.

“You’re such a sap,” Suzaku sighed. He moved closer, wrapping his arms around his dragon. Usually Lancelot was smooth, but the bumps and grooves of the armour plates made the movement clunky.

“The armour moves fine, Miss Cecile,” Suzaku reported. Lancelot leaned down to nibble on a strand of Suzaku’s locks.

“Good,” she nodded. “We can move on to testing it in the field, then.”

“So soon?” Suzaku blinked. “But…”

“Sorry, but we don’t have control over that.” Lloyd waved a hand dismissively. “Orders from the top.”

Suzaku just nodded. There was nothing they could say about that, then. “Are we waiting for the next battle, or doing a trial run?”

“We should trial it before going out, and then-”

The intercom system blared to life, a voice crackling through cutting Cecile off. “ _All soldiers report to your stations! A fight has broken out with the Black Knights in the inner city and we need damage control.”_

_A fight?_ Suzaku gasped. _Not in the city! There’s too many civilians!_

Lloyd started cackling, throwing his hands up. “Well there’s our opportunity! Go on, Suzaku! My tests await!”

Suzaku ignored his flippant words, snapping his fingers. “Lancelot! Let’s go!”

His dragon jumped forward, scooping Suzaku up on his way past before barrelling down the corridor. Once they were outside, in the stable hangar, Lancelot took to the skies. He swung his wings forward, gaining speed and altitude.

Suzaku wriggled around on his back, trying to find a comfortable spot while clipping in his fall restraints. His saddle sat higher than before, atop Lancelot’s new metal armour. It jerked around with an unsatisfying grating sound; he would have to talk to Cecile and Lloyd about that.

“How do the claws feel?” He asked. Lancelot rumbled deep in his chest, flexing a foot forward. Suzaku saw the glistening golden covers over each finger, the end tip sharpened just as much as the claws underneath. If he managed to attack another dragon, they would dig in and hold. Suzaku shivered; things were getting more intense. He wondered what would happen in this fight ahead of them.

“ _Suzaku?”_ Cecile’s voice drifted through his earpiece. “ _We have a tracker on Lancelot’s chest piece. So long as he keeps it on, we’ll be able to know your exact location and his heart rate_.”

“Yes Miss Cecile,” he replied. “Come on Lancelot, we’re almost there!”

Lancelot roared, flapping his wings faster. Glancing to their sides, Suzaku noticed other soldiers were forming up in groups, heading in the same direction. He thought he glimpsed the bright wings of Tristan, but he couldn’t be sure.

Over the heart of the city, he could already see the markings of battle. Small skirmishes had broken out over the skies, dragons screeching and clawing at each other.

He flinched when he noticed a dragon charging toward him, the unmistakable look of a Black Knight’s uniform on the rider.

“Lancelot! Bank left!”

His dragon roared, barrelling off to the side. The enemy dragon’s teeth snapped around thin air. Using the momentum, Lancelot swung his tail around. The sharp keratin spikes sticking out of the end caught along the enemy dragon’s side, tearing through scales and muscles.

Suzaku snapped the reins, and Lancelot surged forward. The dragon flailed and fell behind them, losing altitude. _Good enough,_ Suzaku grunted. If he could avoid pointless deaths, then he would.

He searched through the battling dragons for Zero; if he could find the commander and knock him out of the fight, everyone would follow the retreat. The Black Knights wouldn’t continue if their fire had left the battlefield.

“Suzaku!” a familiar voice shouted at him. He flinched, biting back a groan. He had no time to deal with Kallen!

Sure enough, the bright red scales of Guren burst out from the other shades of dragons. Suzaku grunted, feeling Lancelot growl in warning beneath him.

“I know boy. Remember she’s faster; use your weight against Guren. She can’t face you directly and win.”

Lancelot roared out his agreement, surging to meet Guren head on. Guren knew her own weakness, though, and swerved before Lancelot could land a hit.

He reached up to bat her tail away, already knowing how she would try to hit him on her way past.

Their dragons snarled, snapping and growling at each other. Lancelot surged back around, but Guren was faster, already pushing into his side. Her claws tried to rake at his scales, but the armour along his side kept them off him, scoring grooves in the metal instead of skin.

“Fancy armour you’ve got there,” Kallen grunted. “Brits finally giving you a second glance?”

“Jealous?” Suzaku couldn’t resist smirking. He knew he had hit home when Kallen flinched, slapping her legs down Gruen’s sides.

She roared, spinning around to slam her tail into Lancelot’s side. Lancelot grunted, but the armour kept the spikes from digging into the scales there. _Thank god_ , Suzaku breathed out sharply in relief. He tugged Lancelot away, and his dragon smacked the tail off his side.

“Time for the Albion strike, Lancelot,” he whispered. Kallen couldn’t hear him over the woosh of their dragon’s wingbeats, but he knew they heard him back at base through the com line.

“ _The what!?”_ he heard Cecile squeak through the earpiece. “ _Suzaku what are you doing?_ ”

“Evolving,” he replied, hoping they would understand. He hadn’t run his naming by them before, it was a spur of the moment decision.

Lancelot flapped his wings faster, pulling up and away from Guren. Guren snarled at them, but didn’t move; Kallen was watching to see what he was doing. When Lancelot’s wings began to glow, she turned Guren around with her hand to her earpiece.

“He’s using those crystals!” Kallen shouted. “Everyone, get out from the wing range!”

Suzaku’s eyes widened in shock. “H-How does she know!?”

_Calm down, someone must have seen Lancelot do it the first time and reported back. There’s no other way he would…_

“Lancelot stop! You’ll hit the city below-!” his words fell on deaf ears as the whirl of light either side of him took his voice away.

Lancelot let out a bellow as the energy crystals shot out of his wings, raining down on the buildings.

“Lancelot!” he screamed for his dragon to stop. No matter how he tugged on the reins or his sides, Lancelot continued showering the inner city with deadly precision.

Until his wings suddenly dulled, and Suzaku saw his eyes roll into the back of his head before they were suddenly falling out of the sky.

“Lancelot! No!”

“ _Suzaku! What’s going on?”_

“Lancelot fainted!”

“ _What!?_ ”

Suzaku could still hear Cecile screaming in his ear, and he thought he heard Lloyd at one point as well. It was all drowned out to the sound of his head pounding.

_They were going to… Lancelot was… Shit, this can’t be how-!_

Something smashed into their side, and they flung sideways, landing in an empty car park on a rooftop. Suzaku grunted as his head snapped against one of Lancelot’s wings, the scales scraping the skin on his cheek harshly.

The links keeping him attached to the saddle strained at his weight, his body slumped over the side where Lancelot had stopped moving.

He reached back, blindly groping for the clasps. He touched metal, and immediately unhooked it. His body slumped further down, but he was still connected via two other supports. _Fuck this,_ he jerked a hand down to his boot, pulling out the dagger he always had concealed there.

The remaining straps snapped off when he ran the dagger over them, freeing him from Lancelot’s saddle.

He stumbled off the back of Lancelot’s wing, hopping to his feet. He walked around the sprawled out mess of his dragon, reaching for the gem in the middle of his chest piece. It flickered on, displaying the status of Lancelot’s bodily functions. _Good, it’s still working._

“Lancelot? Can you hear me?”

His dragon grumbled, huffing out of his cheeks, but otherwise wouldn’t move. _He’s just unconscious_ , Suzaku realised.

_But what had…_ He froze at the sound of approaching footsteps, and something heavier.

He spun around, keeping his tiny knife at the ready.

It was Zero, followed by a new dragon, as always. This one was long, a smooth jet black with golden patterns along its back legs and around the claws. Little disk like parts of plat stuck out of its elbows and tail, and the same gold on all of them ran along its underbelly and wings. Suzaku subconsciously felt himself glancing between his own dragon’s golden markings and Zero’s. _How strange…_ He pushed the thought away, pulling up to his full height to meet Zero’s gaze.

Or at least, what he thought was his gaze, the obsidian helmet as unrelenting as always.

“Zero,” he spat.

“Kururugi,” Zero replied. “Once again trying to throw yourself and your dragon into the thick of battle? Looking for someone?”

“You know what I do,” Suzaku hissed. “Stop playing your mind games.”

Zero tipped his head down, the sunlight catching on the mask’s surface. Suzaku, not for the first time, desperately wanted to reach up and snatch it off, find out just who taunted him so freely.

“As you say, Kururugi. Is it officer now? I heard you got promoted.”

Suzaku felt ice flood his veins. “How did you…”

Zero flicked his wrist dismissively. “People talk.”

“Why do you even care? I’m just one soldier of many,” Suzaku said. He would expect Lancelot’s gaze to rake into him at that point, but his dragon was still unconscious. He lowered his gaze on reflex, regardless.

“You’re wrong.” At Zero’s words, his eyes flickered up, a frown forming.

“How- _why_?”

Zero gestured “That dragon would give its life for you. You fly in sync with him, despite never receiving the advanced training those of Britannian birth receive when they have a chosen. I’ve never seen one with such conviction it leaked through to their bonded before. You’re more powerful than you realise.”

Suzaku just grunted. “I don’t care for your flattering words. What you’re doing is wrong, and your actions here today only prove it. Why would you attack the heart of the city? People could have died- people are probably already dead from it!”

Zero tilted his head, and Suzaku felt his eyes on him from behind a black screen. “From us, or your dragon?”

Suzaku stiffened. Zero shrugged.

“I will take responsibility of this,” Zero chuckled. “Just the kind of thing you’d expect from a terrorist, is it not?”

“But… why?” Suzaku asked, his voice turning unsteady.

It seemed he would never find an answer.

“I can’t have you dying on me, Kururugi,” Zero laughed. “You’re too important to give up your life so freely.”

“What?” Suzaku was more confused than when they had begun. But Zero was already rising onto his dragon, getting ready to take off. “Wait!”

“Fly, Gawain!”

The dragon roared, swinging its head to bare its teeth at Suzaku. He froze, but it only lasted a moment, before Gawain had taken off from the side of the building. Suzaku ran up to the edge, watching the dragon disappear among the skyscrapers.

The fighting had stopped above the city; all of the dragons had dispersed. Suzaku reasoned that Zero must have given the order to retreat. _He could have killed Lancelot and I, though,_ Suzaku thought, crouching beside his dragon.

Lancelot was unconscious, but otherwise seemed fine. A small trickle of blood leaked from a cut in his wing, and he thought he saw the ugly red of a bruise peeking out from under the chest plate.

_He needs a check-up,_ Suzaku reached up to his earpiece, flicking the communication line on.

“Miss Cecile?”

“ _Suzaku_!” the reply screeched in his ear. He winced. “ _Where have you been? I’ve been trying to contact you!”_

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I know, I was… Lancelot’s down.”

Cecile stopped screaming immediately, her tone changing to worry. “ _Are you both all right_?”

“Yeah, he’s fine, but he needs some medical attention. I don’t think he can fly right now, he’s unconscious.”

“ _You need a lift?_ ”

“Yes please.”

“ _All right, we’ll head over with a transport vehicle._ ”

“Thanks Miss Cecile.”

“ _Just stay beside Lancelot. I can track him, but not you.”_

“Understood.”

The line cut off, and Suzaku sat down. He was tempted to lean back against his dragon, but he didn’t want to risk injuring Lancelot further. He glanced over, watching the steady rise and fall of Lancelot’s chest.

He felt like an idiot; why had he believed they could master a new power so easily? His recklessness had not only endangered lives below, but Lancelot’s as well.

“I’m sorry bud, I should have thought it through more,” he sighed, placing a hand against Lancelot’s side. “Let’s take it easy, next time.”

He’d wait until he _knew_ Lancelot was comfortable in his ability before forcing his dragon into it.

He heard the whirl of the engines before he saw the transport helicopter. It floated over to them, stopping above Lancelot to hover.

“ _Stand clear, Suzaku_.” Cecile said through his earpiece. He did as she said, letting the pilot activate the lift below.

Two huge metal arms detached from the belly of the vehicle, reaching down to extend out around Lancelot. The arms attached to both sides of the dragon’s body, cradling him underneath the vehicle.

From the side door, Cecile waved him forward.

“Come on, let’s go back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, Lelouch's dragon enters the game! B) Now nothing can stop me inserting dragons into evERY conversation ahaha~


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates are going to be sparse over the months, since I juggle both art and writing in my spare time. I've been in the art side more recently with some projects, which leaves little time to write. Can't be helped ahaha.  
> Thanks for waiting!! Here's the new chap! <3

Back at the base, Suzaku was cut off from Lancelot. Some medical staff ushered him away from the helicopter as soon as he stumbled out.

Cecile fluttered behind him, staying out of the way but accompanying him regardless. Lloyd was balefully ordering around the staff left behind to tend to Lancelot, and it was the last thing Suzaku heard before the doors to the hangar closed.

The medical ward wasn’t too far; meant to be easily accessed by returning soldiers. Suzaku let the people crowding him direct him to an examination room. Inside, they poked and prodded at his sides and back. He was told there was bruising around his waist from where the impact had dug the leather belt into his skin. He did feel the slight burn, but the adrenaline had kept it in the back of his mind until then.

They slathered a balm over his worst areas, making Suzaku twitch from the chill.

“He’ll be fine?” Cecile asked, looking more worried than Suzaku. He was sure his nonchalant look was causing her more concern, but he really didn’t _feel_ like he had been hurt much. Lancelot, however… his dragon had been hit badly, and he wanted more than anything to be by his side, not stuck in the human medical ward.

“He’ll just need to keep ointment on the affected areas,” a doctor said, scribbling something down before passing the paper to Cecile.

“I’ll make sure he does, thank you,” Cecile smiled and bowed. The doctor nodded, walking off and leaving them alone.

“Come on, I know you don’t want to be here any longer.” Cecile opened the door, motioning him to go through.

Suzaku hopped off the bench, tugging his shirt away from the cool patches on his waist. He gave Cecile a smile.

“Am I that easy to read?”

“Absolutely,” Cecile practically rolled her eyes, although carefully hid it behind her turning to leave the room. “You just want to be next to your dragon.”

“Always,” Suzaku shrugged. “He’s my dragon.” Any more of a reason wasn’t needed.

He was glad when Cecile just nodded, like she understood. He realised he had never asked her nor Lloyd if they had a dragon partner, and if they did, what kind of dragons they were. Would he be able to meet them? Or was he the only one in the DRAD with his own dragon? _Maybe that’s why they were desperate to have Lancelot,_ Suzaku reasoned. _Because they haven’t had a strong bonded dragon and rider come through recently…_

He didn’t get the chance to question Cecile, as when they returned to the DRAD Lloyd was there seemingly waiting for them.

“I’m ready for the explanation now, Suzaku,” he said, one eyebrow raised far too high on his face.

“Yes, Suzaku, what happened out there?” Cecile asked.

Despite knowing the question had been coming, Suzaku still flinched. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for it to happen. Lancelot just… wasn’t ready for the Albion Strike, I think. I pushed him too hard.”

“There’s still much to study about dragon evolution,” Lloyd cut in, flopping over the side of his chair. “We need more data before we can truly act on it, and the armour is still in such a young prototype stage.”

“But it looks like there’s no serious damage to the city,” Cecile smiled. “A few cracks and weakened structures, but no one was seriously injured.”

Suzaku felt his smile drop. So people _had_ been hurt, then…

Cecile looked at him, worried. “Suzaku?”

He put on a smile once more. “I’m fine, don’t worry.” At least it was nothing serious, or fatal. Buildings could be rebuilt, and wounds could heal.

“But what do I do next time?”

“We’ll make changes to the armour,” Cecile said, turning to look at Lloyd, who nodded enthusiastically.

“I’ve already extracted all the data from your trip to the city. Fascinating stuff, really, but Cecile is right; we need more tests to gather more information,” Lloyd shook his head. “Your dragon provides the best results, but I suppose to speed things up we will need results faster.”

“We don’t have much of a choice,” Cecile nodded.

“We don’t?” Suzaku blinked. It was the first he was hearing of it, but then he supposed their funding had to come from _somewhere_.

“Prince Schneizel won’t be too satisfied with slow progress.” Lloyd groaned.

Ah. The prince. Of course. That explained the slick looking technology crowding the room.

Cecile walked past them shrugging an end to the conversation “I have to go check on the nursery dragons,” she said. “And you have a dragon yourself to go see.”

“Oh… oh! Yes!” Suzaku jumped, realising just why he had returned to the DRAD in the first place.

“May I be excused to check on Lancelot?” he asked Lloyd. Lloyd just waved at a door opposite the entrance. _The dragon part of the medical ward,_ Suzaku reasoned. But it wasn’t the usual way Suzaku had accessed it. When he had to take Lancelot for mandatory check-ups, they had gone through a different corridor connected to the hangar, but had never passed through the DRAD facility to do so. _Another entrance, I guess,_ Suzaku thought. 

He followed the corridor beyond the door, leading him to a set of familiar rooms. Much bigger than the one he had just been in for his own check-up, the dragon part of the medical ward had higher ceilings and wider doorframes.

They also housed several dragons in one area, no doubt to save on individual rooms, and to help them feel more at ease with others around.

Suzaku passed by several of the resting dragons, looking for his own. From what he could see, every other dragon in the ward had come from the same battle his had. _So much damage, and all for practically nothing,_ he thought sadly. They had only succeeded in driving off the attack, but got nothing of value in return. Suzaku had no idea why Zero had even attacked the heart of Tokyo anyway. Elevens came there too, so what had been the purpose?

 _And that new dragon…_ There had been something… off, about that one. But then, Suzaku didn’t think too long on it, because Zero _always_ had a new dragon with him, so worrying about each and every one wasn’t going to do him any good.

He caught a passing staff member, asking after Lancelot.

“He’s a big white and gold dragon with turquoise wings. We’re with the DRAD.”

“Oh yes, he’s in the next room, number seven,” the staff person said, gesturing to a set of doors beyond.

“Thank you.” Suzaku dipped his head politely before rushing off. Past the doors, he found Lancelot a few beds down, lying on his non injured side. He cracked open an eye as Suzaku approached, lifting his top lip up in what Suzaku had come to see as a grin.

“Hey Lancelot,” Suzaku smiled, reaching down to rub under his chin. “How are you doing boy?”

Lancelot hummed appreciatively, closing his eyes and leaning into the touch. Suzaku looked over the injury on his side, noting the bandages stretched across and pasted to his side.

From the way Lancelot was moving slowly, he would take a few days to recover. “No going out for you,” Suzaku patted his head, getting a low grumble in response. Lancelot lowered his head back down, eyes closed.

Suzaku rose slowly and quietly, making his exit and return to Lloyd.

The halls around the DRAD were abuzz with activity. People ran back and forth, moving from place to place. Some carried paperwork stacked to their chin, while others lead dragons around. Suzaku gave them a wide berth, and they didn’t hesitate to do the same with him.

But it wasn’t like before; he could see the difference. It was in the little nods and smiles some through his way. There was… dare he say, almost respect he saw there?

It wasn’t much, and he couldn’t allow himself to hope, but he did allow a smile to settle on his face.

“Suzaku!”

He paused, turning back to find the Knight of Three running up to him.

“S-Sir Weinberg!” Suzaku dropped into a bow at the waist, wincing when he felt the material of his shirt stick to the balm there.

Gino waved him up. “I’m here off duty! No stress, Kururugi.”

“We’re still at base, sir,” Suzaku reminded him gently. “I have to show the proper respect of rank.”

Gino blinked, seemingly not realising he was _supposed_ to enforce that. Suzaku just smiled, tempted to shake his head, but not wanting to press his luck. He knew Gino liked to play it casual with his crew, but since Suzaku had moved to the DRAD facility, he no longer served directly under Gino. Technically, they were just a knight and warrant officer having a discussion now.

“I’m looking for someone, actually,” Gino hummed. “You seen Anya?”

“The Knight of Six?” Suzaku blinked. “No?”

“You sound very sure.” Gino chuckled.

“I’m sorry, sir, but I’m not familiar with the Knight of Six, nor have I seen her. I’ve been in the medical ward.”

“Oh, were you hurt in the fight over Tokyo central?” Gino’s carefree look disappeared in an instant, and Suzaku was reminded of just what power Gino kept under the surface of his casual nature. He was a Knight of the Rounds, and if he wanted something, he would get it.

Suzaku wondered if that meant revenge, if he said they were badly hurt from fighting the Black Knights. But he didn’t want to worry Gino, not when the knight had so much more on his plate than Suzaku in his simple research rank.

“Not me,” Suzaku half-lied. “But Lancelot got a deep scratch down his side, and he’s recovering now. I just went to check on him.”

“But he’ll be fine?” Gino pressed.

“Of course, he’s tough,” Suzaku nodded.

Gino whistled, mimicking Suzaku’s motion. “He _is_ a big boy, that one. At times I’m almost jealous of his size; I wish Tristan was a fighter dragon.”

“Tristan is a knight’s dragon, though. And you wouldn’t have the speed you do with him if he was a big fighter class like Lancelot.”

“That’s true,” Gino sighed. “I suppose Tristan and I have our own way of doing things. But still, Lancelot has got to be one of the biggest dragons out there! I can’t imagine a class bigger than fighter!”

 _Because there isn’t,_ Suzaku almost said. Instead, he just nodded, letting himself have a moment to be proud of his strong dragon.

He heard the sound of approaching footsteps, a _lot_ of them. And there was the _clack_ of… heels? He and Gino turned to see an entourage of people walking down the corridor, all huddled around one person in the lead.

Bright pink hair flowed down her face, and there was a cheery smile reaching way past her eyes there. Suzaku recognised something in those sharp features and deep eyes, but it was Gino’s movement of sinking to his knee that jolted the knowledge into his thoughts.

 _Royalty_. Princess Euphemia. Lelouch’s and Nunnally’s half-sister.

“Y-your majesty!” Suzaku dropped to one knee right beside Gino. He wasn’t required to, not having the honour of being a knight, but it felt… right to do.

“Rise please, Sir Weinberg,” Princess Euphemia’s voice was light and bubbly. “And Warrant Officer Kururugi.”

Suzaku flinched at the mention of his name. _How does she…?_ He saw Gino rise beside him, and moved to stand as well.

“What can we do for you, your majesty?” Gino asked.

“A tour of the city would be nice,” Euphemia smiled. “Between a local and a knight, my sister couldn’t refuse me I’m sure.”

Suzaku just blinked up at her. Was he… the local? Princess Euphemia wanted _him_ to show her around?

He had… no idea how to respond to that, so he didn’t. He just kept his head bowed.

“Oh I’m just kidding. I’m here on official business, of course,” Euphemia laughed. “I’m sure you’ll be briefed on anything you need to be soon, Sir Weinberg.”

“I look forward to the orders, your majesty,” Gino bent his head again.

“Princess…” one of her guards mumbled behind her. Euphemia sighed.

“I suppose we had better continue on to see my sister, then. It was nice to meet you, officer Kururugi,” Euphemia gave him a small curtesy, then her procession wandered off from them. Gino didn’t follow, instead turning back to Suzaku.

“Looks like you’ve caught the eye of a certain someone.” Gino winked at him.

“Sir, please.” Suzaku mumbled, edging away. “I’m just a Warrant Officer.”

“Sure sure, for now,” Gino grinned. “Don’t give up that ambition just yet, eh?”

Suzaku had no idea what the knight was talking about, so he just nodded dumbly. “What is the princess doing in Japan?”

Gino shrugged in response. “I had no idea she’d be here, and not even a Rounds to follow her, either. I’ll have to talk with the others about this. The members of the royal family aren’t supposed to travel without a knight by their side. Your guess is as good as mine buddy.”

There was something about a Knight of the Rounds calling him a ‘buddy’ that made Suzaku laugh. Judging by the grin Gino sent him, he knew just as much how awkward it was. Soon they were both laughing, Gino even going as far slinging an arm around Suzaku’s shoulders.

“I like you, Suzaku Kururugi,” he grinned. “Come hang out with me and Anya sometime, would ya? Off duty, of course. No pesky titles.”

“Okay, sure,” Suzaku nodded. “I’d like that.”

Gino excused himself after, heading off in the same direction Euphemia had gone. It left Suzaku alone, wandering where he should head next.

 _Maybe I could go see Lelouch,_ he thought. He fished out his phone, flicking over Lelouch’s name. He waited a moment, the line connecting to voices talking in the distance.

“Lelouch?”

“ _Ah, Suzaku, hello._ ” He could practically hear Lelouch’s smile in his voice. “ _So eager to see me again?”_

“Always,” Suzaku chuckled back. “Is that so wrong?”

“ _That depends on the reasoning, I suppose_.”

“Would you like to hang out sometime? I’m off work for a bit, for uh… some stuff with Lancelot. So I’m free if you are.”

“ _Mmm, I’d like to, but- hey! Don’t touch those I haven’t read them yet!_ ” Lelouch’s voice drifted away from the phone, and Suzaku could barely pick up anything he was saying until he returned.

“ _Sorry, I’m in the middle of something_.”

“I can call again later.”

“ _No need, I can multitask,_ ” Lelouch replied swiftly. “ _What do you need?_ ”

“Are you sure?”

“ _Suzaku_ ,” Lelouch tutted. “ _It’s just university work. A group project, no reason to stress over_.”

“Only _you_ would say that.”

“ _Of course_ ,” Lelouch said, and Suzaku could imagine the way his hand would wave in dismissal. “ _Doesn’t matter, you know I’ll get it done. But alas, I am held up here at the moment_.”

“I could come to your university.”

“ _No no_ ,” Lelouch replied quickly. “ _I do_ not _want to have to explain how I know someone in the military, please_.”

“I understand.” Suzaku sighed. He had expected as much. Lelouch was always so skittish about his job.

“ _I’m sorry_.”

“Don’t be, Lelouch, it’s fine,” Suzaku forced a smile into his voice. “Maybe shoot me a text when you have free time next? I’ll see if I’ll be available too, if the Black Knights would shut up for a minute.”

Lelouch was silent for a moment, long enough that Suzaku brought the phone away from his ear to check the line was still connected.

“ _Sorry, more nuisances touching my stuff_ ,” Lelouch grumbled. “ _I will definitely let you know, Suzaku. You have my word_.”

 _Trust Lelouch to make it sound dramatic_ , Suzaku shook his head. “Sure thing, Lelouch. Take care.”

“ _I’m not the one in the military, Suzaku_.” Lelouch said, then he dropped the call. _Touché, I suppose._ He couldn’t argue with Lelouch; the man was too good at twisting words, and Suzaku was, admittedly, too slow to follow them all the time.

 _At least he’s showing concern in his own way,_ Suzaku shrugged. He pocketed his phone, moving off down the corridor.

* * *

Lelouch stared down at his phone, humming. Suzaku really did have the worst sense of timing. It was almost as if his friend could _sense_ when Lelouch was plotting something, and would use that opportunity to _completely mess with everything_ Lelouch wanted to do.

 _Stubborn boy, still pursuing his idealism through the military._ He knew it would never work out, Suzaku couldn’t change anything through the Britannian army. They were just too set in stone, he’d never get them to listen. Change was something Britannia never did on its own.

 _I should know better than anyone else,_ Lelouch thought coldly. If he let his mind wander for a split second, he could see a flash of his father’s face, the complete bored expression and monotone way he had spoken.

_Bastard…_

“Was that your ‘friend’?” CC hummed from the couch.

“Why did you say it that way?” Lelouch spun his chair around, narrowing his eyes at her.

CC just shrugged, letting a hand fall off the cushions.

“It was.”

“I thought so. You only speak like that when it’s your sister or that boy.”

“I said his name, of course you could tell it was him,” Lelouch replied blankly. He shoved his phone in a pant pocket, rising from the chair to stalk over to CC.

“Are you done touching everything?” he muttered.

“I was looking for something.”

“In my reports.”

“Mmhm.”

“Forgive me for not believing that at all,” Lelouch grunted. “The truth?”

“It’s not important,” CC said dismissively. “Don’t you have more pressing concerns?”

 _Indeed,_ Lelouch left her side, moving over to where CC had been lurking around. He snatched up a handful of papers, and nestled his laptop under his other arm.

“I’m going to go do some work with Gawain. I’ll be back to run over some things with you later. Check your e-mails in the meantime.”

“You’ll walk all the way down to the hangar just to read those reports?” CC’s head turned his way, her expression as blank as ever.

“He… clears my head,” Lelouch murmured. He promptly left at the laugh she gave him, slamming the door behind him.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Terribly sorry for the long wait, but I work on a million things at once so im always hella busy ahaha. I won't update this until I finish whatever chapter I'm working on at the time, so I'm hopefully never working on the next chapter straight away. I've been there and it's not fun in a long fic! That said, thank you SO much to the people who commented before, heckin' appreciate ya lots!!!! I hope this update makes up (somewhat) for the horrible delay, sorry again!!!  
> I usually post updates on what I'm working on over on twitter, so if ya wanna see what im up to (or the suzalulu im no doubt drawing lol) feel free to go follow me there @ emileeashe <3

Nunnally was already waiting for him in the parlour of their house. She sat in her wheelchair, hands crossed over one another carefully. Lelouch almost felt an apology bubble up in his throat at the sight; he hated to make her wait for him, to make her feel like he had more important things to be concerned about other than _her_.

It wasn’t further than the truth. He was doing it all for _them_ , no one else.

“It’s good to see you again, little sister.” He took her hands in his, brushing one against her cheek. Some of her unruly hair sprung down, and he meticulously curled it back around her ear before retreating.

“Lelouch…”

“I’m here, Nunnally,” he smiled. He settled into the chair next to her, one hand grazing over the back. Sayoko had left them a fresh pot of tea, as silent and omnipresent as always. She had also poured Nunnally a cup already, sitting on the table section in front of her.

“Do you want some tea?” He asked. He could see she had already drank half the drink, but he always offered anyway.

“I’m fine, thank you,” Nunnally smiled.

Lelouch raised his own cup, finding his appetite biting at him from the lack of food he ate. He swallowed back some tea, taking in the essence floating around the surface. It was crisp, sharp in flavour. A blend from Europe, he presumed. He briefly wondered how Sayoko consistently found them such unusual blends. 

“I’m glad to see you’re doing well,” he said to his sister. “You must be almost finished by now, right?”

“Yes.” She replied.

“You’ll be in university like me soon, then.” Lelouch took his teacup to his mouth to ease his nerves. He knew Nunnally couldn’t see how uncomfortable his posture was, but she had a way of _sensing_ it anyway.

Lelouch sipped at his drink, watching the brown liquid slowly lessen. He was running out of time, and not just for his time to speak with his sister; it was for a lot of things.

“You’ve seemed distant recently, big brother,” Nunnally said quietly.

“I know, I’m sorry,” Lelouch sighed. _Trust Nunnally to recognise something wrong_. He knew she had a way with being able to tell when there was a disturbance between them. He was just glad she couldn’t read _everything_ from their touch. Then, he would be in trouble.

Lelouch turned the cup around in his hand, admiring the swirls of gold lining the white edges.

With the drink empty, and Nunnally sitting quietly in thought, he felt it was time to say his piece.

“Nunnally…” Lelouch swallowed. It would be hard, but he had to tell her. “I’m going away for a while.”

Nunnally was silent, her hands folded neatly over each other. Lelouch reached out to touch them, but hesitated. He wasn’t _lying_ , albeit omitting certain details that he was sure his sister didn’t need to know. But he waited until Nunnally was ready to speak.

“You’re… going to be in danger, aren’t you?” she said.

Lelouch nodded, unable to resist. “Yes… It can’t be avoided.”

Nunnally sighed, shaking her head. “You’re always like this, big brother…”

“I’m sorry.”

“Can you… at least tell me where you’re going?” Her hand reached blindly for his. Lelouch placed a hand between hers, letting her palms cup around him.

“Lelouch.”

“Pendragon,” he let slip. “I’m going to Pendragon.”

“The capital?” she gasped. Her hands twitched. “But… Lelouch, our identities.”

“It’s almost time for us to stop hiding. I have one last thing to do before then. Until I can, I need to know you’re safe here in Japan.”

“Big brother…” He hated seeing the frown on her face, but he knew it to be a sign that she was deep in thought. He waited, giving her the time she needed once again. He was patient, but the word took on a whole other meaning when he was with his sister. He would wait forever if that was what she needed from him.

Eventually, she raised her head, taking a hand off Lelouch’s to stick her little finger out. “Promise?” She asked.

“Of course,” he chuckled, wrapping his pinky around hers. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

* * *

Hacking into the Administration building’s phone network was easy enough. Lelouch carefully kept the details out of the Black Knight’s knowledge, opting to perform most of the work himself. What came next, however, would prove more of a challenge.

His other sister.

Lelouch rubbed his hands over the soft material of his pants, wiping off the traces of sweat already pooling there. His mind told him there was no need to be nervous; he could outfox his half sister in any mind game they could try.

But then, Euphemia couldn’t be read as easily when she let her emotions rule her heart. And Lelouch was _horrible_ at outplaying those.

He shook away the traitorous thoughts, dialling through the lines to patch himself directly through to the Viceroy’s desk.

He knew Euphemia would prefer to field important calls herself, and therefore would most likely be alone in her office. Perfect for what Lelouch needed.

“ _Hello_?” the sweet sound of his sister’s voice called down the line. Lelouch allowed himself a moment of weakness, letting himself just listen to his sibling.

_If only it could have been different, Euphemia,_ he lamented. The time they had lost together, the years Nunnally could have had her sister for, ruined, all because of _him_.

He checked the position of the mask, letting the voice modulator echo out its distortion as he spoke.

“Hello, Princess Euphemia.”

A soft gasp down the line, and then, “ _Zero_?”

“Correct.”

Euphemia paused. Lelouch let her have a moment; he was already gambling everything on this call as it was, he couldn’t risk pushing her further away by trying to intimidate her. Euphemia would never buckle under the pressure, she was too strong to be dissuaded.

“ _Why are you calling me_?” she finally answered.

“I have a proposal for you, Princess Euphemia.”

“ _What can I do that you’d need me for?_ ” She asked.

“You’re Viceroy,” he thought as much didn’t need to be said. “If anyone has the power to help change Japan, it’s you.”

“ _I would say you’ve been doing a good enough job on that front, if not with more unsavoury methods_.”

_I know you don’t approve of my practices, sister, but they get the results. We can’t wait around for the empire’s slow-moving rules._ “Will you join with us, Princess Euphemia? In an alliance?”

“ _An alliance_?” she paused. “ _Such a strange thing for a revolution leader to ask, don’t you think?”_

“And yet it is the best path to keep us all sane and safe,” Lelouch muttered.

“ _Hmm_.” She delayed once more, and Lelouch could pick up the feint sound of footsteps clacking over vinyl flooring. The very same kind of nervous pacing he would often perform himself.

“ _There isn’t as much as I’d like to be able to do, being Viceroy_ ,” she finally said. “ _But I will do what I can_.”

“You agree?” Lelouch was amused at that. He had expected his sister to falter slightly, to stall for time to ask their siblings. But then, she was much older than the short, bubbly girl he had last seen at the Aries Villa so long ago.

_We’ve all grown up, I suppose,_ he thought sadly. _There’s no place in this world for childish dreams anymore._

Euphemia laughed down the line. “ _Of course! Japan deserves to have its name back, although_ -”

“I understand,” Lelouch muttered. “The emperor is unlikely to agree.”

“ _Yes. I am not sure if my father will approve of this alliance._ ”

“Then we shall not tell him of it, then.”

There was a pause, and he assumed Euphemia was nodding. “ _All right. But, I want to meet face to face. I want to see you in person to certify this alliance_.”

“I understand. If you expect me to meet with you, though, Princess Euphemia, you must allow me to bring guards with me.”

“ _I will allow it_.”

“Good.”

“ _Come today_.”

“Today?” Lelouch almost chuckled. _Perhaps she is the same old Euphemia._

“ _No time for trickery or plans. I want this to be as open as you can let it be_.”

He caught something in her tone, something she, perhaps, had wanted to say instead, but held back.

“…Very well then,” he reluctantly agreed.

Euphemia hung up to sort out her guard for their arrival, and Lelouch pushed away from the desk, taking a breather with the mask off.

It was just as well he had been planning for this; all the documentation they would need was already drafted up. He was prepared. He was ready.

An independent Japan would be coming.

_I hope you’ll be happy with this, Suzaku, Nunnally,_ he thought. He didn’t want to see the sad look on Nunnally’s face when the news called them Elevens, nor the careful way Suzaku held himself when he let others talk down to him just because of his nationality.

After gathering up the documents he would need, he turned the intercom system on. “Kallen, Ohgi, Inuoe, and Minami, I need you in the meeting room in five.”

He slipped the mask back on before leaving, arms full of binders and folders. The rooms they held conferences in weren’t too far from his own quarters; mainly for his benefit and convenience. But still, upon his arrival, Inuoe and Minami were already waiting inside. They must have already been close to the meeting room.

He sat down at the head of the table, nodding politely to the two. They nodded back, and they all waited.

Ohgi came next, sitting closer to Lelouch. “Zero.” He greeted.

“Ohgi.”

“Kallen’s late again?” Inoue sighed. “Where is she?”

“Probably at the stables,” Minami shrugged. “You know her, hanging around the dragons, always.”

“It’s fine.” Lelouch flicked his wrist. As if to summon her, Kallen appeared in the doorway, stepping inside and closing it behind her.

“What’s up?” she said in way of greeting, plopping down beside Inoue.

“Kallen-” Ohgi began to chastise her, but Lelouch didn’t have time for their usual banter.

“We have an urgent new mission,” he interrupted.

“We do?” Kallen asked. Everyone sat taller at once, leaning in for Lelouch’s next words.

“We’re meeting with Princess Euphemia,” he said. It was best to keep the details vague, but somewhat true.

“Wha- the princess!?” Minami stuttered. Kallen and Ohgi looked equally shocked, but he couldn’t miss the extra level of caution Ohgi had identified immediately. He understood, then. Good.

“Just us?” Kallen gestured around to the five of them. “We’re not much of a strike force. You should let the others come too, Zero.”

“We’re going to make peace,” Lelouch sighed. “The more Black Knights I bring, the more unsettled the Britannians will be. I don’t want to cause pointless unrest, or risk the princess seeing us as an enemy over an ally.”

“Is it wise?” Ohgi asked. “Making a treaty with them? Didn’t they try this before with the last prime minister?”

Everyone nodded glumly. They all remembered the events that lead to their country’s demise.

Lelouch stiffened. He remembered the eyes of a boy distraught by his father’s death over a decade ago. The way he hugged himself, tears leaking from his eyes.

He fisted his hands by his sides, turning around. “This is a deal not with the Emperor of Britannia, but with those who defy his might. It is important we keep this to as small a group as possible.”

“Is that why Tamaki isn’t here?” Inoue snorted. “Can’t say I blame you for leaving him in the dark, then.”

Lelouch nodded.

“I suppose that makes sense,” Ohgi grunted. “Well, if you’re sure about this, then we’ll support you.”

“Thank you, Ohgi. I will use your faith in good will.”

Their transport was waiting outside, and after a quick drive through the Tokyo Settlement’s smooth roads, they arrived at the gates to the Administration building.

Lelouch stepped out first, waiting for the others to form up around him. He eyed the guards posted outside, and the ones they passed walking through the bulky gates to the building. He had wanted to make his entrance on Gawain, with Guren and Kallen- an obvious symbol of the Black Knights- by his side. But he couldn’t risk their dragons getting captured, if something went wrong. He doubted it would, if Euphemia really did want to talk. His sister was too kind to resort to such cunning tactics. She was nothing like the other siblings they had.

At the front door, a small procession of guards guided them through the halls, and Lelouch let them lead. He saw Kallen’s sulky frown to his right, and a quick glance to his left showed Ohgi seemed put off as well, in a more nervous way.

“ _Stay calm_ ,” Lelouch grunted. “Don’t react. And _don’t_ draw your weapons.”

Ohgi seemed to understand the best, placing his hand over Kallen’s to keep her still. She glanced at him, and he shook her head.

“Zero’s right, now’s not the time.”

“Alright…”

Lelouch stepped forward, striding his way through the building. From the dock, they passed down a set of stairs and a long hall, their guide moving quickly and quietly.

“The representatives are waiting for you in the grand hall,” the soldier bowed, motioning them through a grand set of doors.

Lelouch entered first, sending his cape whirling behind him.

The hall was massive, high ceilings for dragons to fly to, and long passageways leading off the sides. Along the open windows were carved archways in the walls; paths for dragons to come in and out as they wished. It seemed a thoroughfare for activity, but in that moment, there was no traffic.

He noticed the guards standing watch at the edges of the hall. They were against the walls, keeping their distance, but still, their heads turned to watch them walk down.

At the other end stood a procession of people. He saw his sister with her long, glowing pink hair standing out in contrast to all the other colours around her.

Behind Euphemia was Sir Weinberg and Lady Alstreim, and-

Suzaku.

_Two knights and a Japanese?_ Lelouch glanced at Suzaku, straightening. _Why is_ _Suzaku here…? He’s not a knight; or at least, when I spoke to him last he said nothing. Hmm, this could be trouble..._

Euphemia seemed relaxed, her posture slackened and her smile wide. To anyone else, she would look to be polite in the face of one with such power. But Lelouch knew Euphie better than that; he knew she was lax because she _knew_ something.

_She can’t… but maybe…_

He had to act quick.

“Princess Euphemia, we meet at last,” he said, sweeping a hand outward, sending his cape snapping along with it.

Euphemia stepped forward, but Suzaku was quicker, moving between her and Lelouch.

“Your majesty,” Suzaku murmured, turning to face her, but keeping his body facing Lelouch.

“Suzaku, don’t worry,” Euphemia smiled, touching his arm softly. “I’ll be fine. He won’t hurt me.”

“You can’t know that,” Suzaku protested. He flinched, as if to reach out and hold her back. But he resisted, most likely remembering his rank and staying back.

“As you wish, your majesty,” he relented. Lelouch didn’t miss the dark look he sent his way, nor the fingers curled over his sword at his waist.

“Hello, Zero,” Euphemia nodded politely. She held her head high, her posture closed off, but still oozing her confidence. She had no fear of him.

_Euphemia, you’ve grown up so much._ He felt a swirl of pride in his chest, seeing his sister so tall and strong.

“Princess Euphemia,” Lelouch replied, ducking his head for a moment. “Thank you for agreeing to meet with us.”

“Indeed,” her eyes trailed to Kallen and the other Black Knights behind him. “May we speak in private, Lord Zero?”

Lelouch stiffened at the title. From the way Euphemia was looking at him, he had a feeling…

“Very well,” he gestured for Kallen to stay put, prepared for the protest she would make.

“But Zero, we’re your guard!” she said, stepping forward.

“Princess Euphemia will be alone and therefore I shall honour this by being alone as well,” Lelouch said tiredly. “Stay here, Kallen. I’ll be fine.”

He didn’t wait for her to complain further, letting Euphemia lead him deeper into the building. Suzaku, surprisingly, also remained behind.

She said nothing, not until they reached a door that yielded to her touch. She stepped inside enough for Lelouch to follow her before the door closed.

“Now that we’re alone, you don’t have to hide behind a mask anymore,” Euphemia smiled. “Brother.”

Lelouch schooled his posture to remain stoic and still. He titled his head an inch. “Brother?”

Euphemia _laughed_ , a hand catching in front of her open mouth. “It is you, isn’t it? Lelouch?”

_Trust Euphemia to figure it out,_ Lelouch silently chuckled to himself. He let his gaze sweep around the room, just in case any cameras had been set up for them. But no one had known which room Euphemia would pick; he was sure his sister would have done so randomly and with precision.

If she wasn’t here to unmask him, then she was here to protect his identity.

He reached up to his helmet, letting the mask fall off with a slight hiss of the mechanics inside. Dropping his arm to his side, he used his other to push down the fabric over his mouth.

“Hello, sister,” he said.

Euphemia inhaled sharply, and he thought he saw watery tears forming in the corners of her eyes. “It really is… Lelouch… but how?”

“Things aren’t always as they seem, I suppose,” Lelouch huffed. He walked over to a nearby desk, dropping his mask down. “We didn’t die in the war. Nunnally and I.”

“Nunnally too?” Euphemia gasped. The tears were definitely there now. “I’m… so glad. I thought the worst, after the war.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t reach out to you sooner,” he sighed. “It was important we stayed hidden, and I couldn’t risk being in the capital. Not with father so close.”

“But your announcement…” Euphemia sighed. “Lelouch, father won’t like this. He’s going to react.”

“Japan deserves to be freed,” Lelouch said. “Don’t you agree? Britannia has loomed over it long enough. It needs to leave, and let Japan rebuild.”

“I know, Japan shouldn’t be Area Eleven anymore. No, it shouldn’t have been Area Eleven at all to _begin_ with.” Euphemia was quiet, wringing her hands together.

“Then work with me, sister.” Lelouch held out his hand, giving his palm up to Euphie. “I know you want this as much as I do.”

“How will we defeat father, though?” She shivered. “Lelouch, he’s so powerful… Britannia will crush Japan if we fail.”

“We won’t, I promise,” Lelouch swore. “I will take down father and change Britannia. We will stand as friends with Japan. And all the others. Euphie… I know you believe this as well.”

“I do,” she nodded, and Lelouch sure resolve harden her eyes. She took his hand, shaking it.

Lelouch couldn’t help letting a small laugh out. “I’m relieved this went so well. It’s nice to still have family to rely on.”

“Of course, I’m always here for you, Lelouch. You and Nunnally deserve to be happy.”

_She does,_ Lelouch thought. “Euphie, why is Suzaku here?”

“Suzaku?” Euphemia blinked, clearly not expecting such a question. “Suzaku Kururugi? You know him?”

_Shit_ , Lelouch cursed himself. _That was unnecessary._

“We’ve met on the battlefield before,” Lelouch replied smoothly. “He often comes surging after me on Lancelot.” _Don’t ask more, please, Euphie. I can’t tell you about that Summer… Or our school life._

“I see,” Euphie nodded. “It won’t be a problem, I hope? I value Suzaku’s contribution, and I’d rather have him close than push him away.”

Lelouch barely held back a scoff. _Trust Euphie to find the most stubbornly loyal guy around._ “I have no problem with Suzaku. As long as he does not try anything against me.”

“I’ll make sure he understands, and everyone else in the army,” She beamed a smile at him. “We can make this work, Lelouch, I just know it!”

_I wish I had your confidence, sister_ , Lelouch sighed. He gripped the mask once more, donning it, the back plates sliding into place around his skull.

“I shall talk with my knights as well. Sadly, I cannot remain in Japan right now. I have other things to attend to elsewhere.”

Euphie’s eyes widened. “Lelouch, you’re not… going to the homeland, are you?”

“I cannot tell you more. Please don’t worry, Euphie. I’ll be fine.” He gave her a smile, despite the barrier of the mask blocking it. _I have no time to explain, Euphie. Please, just believe me._

“I must go.” He spun around, making for the door. “I trust you can arrange the proper avenues for our treaty with my subordinates?”

“Yes, Lord Zero,” Euphie laughed her precious laugh, strolling up next to him. “But don’t leave me behind, all right? We’re in this together. Don’t go trying to do everything by yourself like you always did.”

_Like always, huh?_ Lelouch smirked behind his mask. _Suzaku would say the same thing. Perhaps they’re naturally drawn to each other and their similarities._

As they stepped back into the room, the hushed whispers of voices died down. Hopeful eyes turned towards them. Lelouch couldn’t help noticing how Suzaku started towards them, his gaze trained on him, hand still at his sword.

Euphemia stopped, throwing her hands out, Lelouch by her side. “Everyone! I am proud to be able to tell you we have reached an agreement! There will now be a truce between Japan and Britannia!”

“J-Japan…” Ohgi whispered. “So we can…?” He glanced between Lelouch and Euphemia, uncertainty written on his face.

“Yes,” Euphemia smiled. “This land shall no longer be called Area Eleven anymore. Official announcements pending, of course.”

“Japan is back? Just like that?” Kallen blinked. She crossed her arms angrily. “How?”

“Britannia will withdraw its military force, and the Black Knights will serve as the new armed force of Japan.” Lelouch explained. “The Japanese will be in charge of protecting their country.”

“But Britannia will stay here?” Minami adjusted his glasses. Underneath his other arm were all the documents Lelouch had made him bring; the terms and conditions he had already written out for Euphie.

He knew his sister wasn’t the best at the political side of affairs, but she made speeches just as well as he did.

Perhaps with slightly less flare, but still, she had the royal blood.

“We will set up a council of Britannia and Japan, under the stewardship of a Japanese Prime Minister once again.” Lelouch said, resting a hand on his hip.

Mostly everyone in the room seemed pleased at the news. The Black Knights were relieved, at least. He let his gaze wander to Suzaku, who had stiffened at his words. There was… fear, in his eyes? Suzaku was _scared_? _Of what?_ Lelouch wondered. He would have to corner Suzaku off duty sometime soon to try and fish his feelings out of him.

“Your highness,” Sir Weinberg cut in, a frown plastered over his face. “None of us have the authority to initiate such a thing. His majesty… We cannot.”

Euphemia held her head high. “I understand your concern, Sir Weinberg. But I am a princess, and the viceroy of Area Eleven. I am allowed to make decisions regarding the country, and discuss them with his majesty when he is available.”

“I…” Sir Weinberg froze, his hands twitching by his sides. “As you wish, your majesty.”

“Good,” she smiled, turning back to Lelouch. “You have the necessary preparations?”

“Of course,” he replied. “Ohgi, Minami, accompany us to the meeting room. “

“Sir!”

“L-Lord Zero, what of us?” Kallen asked.

“Wait for further orders outside.” Lelouch dismissed her with a wave. The rest milled around for a second before moving.

“Come on Kallen,” Inoue reached out to her friend, dragging Kallen away.

“And I shall take Sir Weinberg and Major Kururugi.”

_Major?_ Lelouch frowned. Suzaku was… promoted? Again? But why? Suzaku was skilled enough to deserve the promotion, of course, but Lelouch knew better than to imagine the Britannian army would be kind enough to let an Eleven reach so far up the ranks. He would never change the-

_Ah. Euphemia._ She was the wild card in his equations and predictions. She must have promoted him for some reason. Maybe she had the same idea Lelouch had, and had begun to move her plans at the same time he had.

_But why would she need him?_ _A Japanese soldier proving his worth in the Britannian army? But then, Suzaku would make a better prime minister, being the son of the previous one. Why keep him in the army?_ Lelouch couldn’t work that out, no matter how much he wracked his brain for an answer.

“Shall we go, Lord Zero?” Euphemia held her hand out to him.

Lelouch blinked, titling his head up. Around him, everyone was staring at him, waiting.

_I was careless,_ he grunted, nodding towards the princess. “Yes, your majesty.”

As Lelouch fell into step beside his sister, he felt the heated gaze of Suzaku on his back.

* * *

Was the princess really doing this? It seemed so sudden, a spur of the moment decision. Was it even her own decision? Had Zero planned something?

Or had… Zero and the princess prepared this beforehand?

_Does Euphemia know Zero’s true identity?_ He gasped. It couldn’t be… but then, it would explain how one short meeting alone had them reaching a conclusion so easily…

And Zero wanted his second in command, a man Suzaku knew nothing about, to be the new Prime Minister? He was Japanese, at least, but Suzaku was worried. Without knowing anything about the man, would he be able to lead? Why was the princess so readily agreeing to Zero’s terms?

Suzaku might not have much knowledge in the field of politics, being too young to have picked anything up from his father when…

He shook his head. He shouldn’t. It was… He didn’t deserve it.

He almost tripped upon realising Zero was walking in the opposite direction. While he stopped, frowning, Zero continued forward, not missing a step.

“Zero,” Suzaku grunted.

“Major Kururugi,” Zero replied, as smooth as ever. “My congratulations on your promotion once again.”

Suzaku ignored it. “Why are you doing this? Do you truly think this is best for Japan?”

“I do,” Zero tilted his head. “I only act for the good of Japan. It is for this reason that I shall not be the one to lead Japan.”

“You don’t want to lead?” Suzaku blinked. “I doubt that.”

“I am not Japanese,” Zero shrugged, the movement so simple it took Suzaku aback. “I should not rule a country I am not apart of.”

“I don’t believe you,” Suzaku breathed out.

“That is your decision to make, Major.”

Suzaku spun to face Zero, a hand snatching out to grasp his hand. “I’ll be watching you. I’ve seen how you fight on the battlefield. I don’t _trust_ you.”

Zero didn’t reply, his mask reflecting Suzaku’s anger instead of his reaction. He saw his eyes widen, the lines leaving his face.

He flinched, letting Zero’s hand go. “I apologise. That was uncalled for.”

“Major Kururugi,” Zero said. “Do you think you should take on the role of Japan’s new Prime Minister instead of my second in command?”

“No,” Suzaku answered immediately, the word snapping off his tongue. “Although I know nothing about this man of the Black Knights. I am a soldier, not a politician.”

Zero gave a soft chuckle. “I suppose you are. So, you choose to fight?”

“I chose to protect.”

“Protect what?”

_The people I love,_ Suzaku bit his tongue. He couldn’t. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“Perhaps I wouldn’t,” Zero shrugged again. “It’s more important that _you_ understand, though.”

“Wha…” Before Suzaku could finish, Zero was already walking away.

“Zero!”

“Stay strong, Kururugi.” He heard Zero mutter. And then he was gone, cape swinging around a corner.

Suzaku just stared dumbly after him.


	7. Chapter 7

The summons should have come as no surprise to him, but he still found the idea a _princess_ would call upon him to be unexpected.

When had he caught Euphemia’s attention? Was it because of how Lancelot had evolved? Turned the tide on their battles? Even though he had been taken down in the previous one, Lancelot’s constant presence seemed to be noticed more and more.

No one seemed to spare him a glance as he traversed the halls. It was a comfortable silence, leading up until he entered Euphemia’s quarters.

“Princess?” Suzaku blinked, giving his due bows. “May I assist you?”

Euphemia walked up to him, her hands fumbling in front of her. The smile ever present on her face seemed strained. “You seem distracted,” she noted.

“I apologise, your highness. Zero’s continued visits have made it tense around here.”

“Have they?” She tilted her head. “Surely it’s better than waiting for the next attack, though?”

He flinched, pressing his lips together. He couldn’t argue with that; the cease fire that Euphemia and Zero’s partnership had caused was a huge relief to everyone. Some might find the lack of activity to be boring, but most were cautiously optimistic they would have the chance for holidays with family sometime soon.

Suzaku envied that. To have something worth fighting for, a cause beyond just ‘his country and people’. He loved Japan- Area _Eleven_ , he shouldn’t even _think_ that anymore- and he loved the people and culture that surrounded it. Even under Britannian rule, there were still parts and places that oozed the crisp, ancient scent of Ja- Area Eleven. Of times best left to childhood memories, despite how he felt like he still chased after that high.

Nunnally’s laugh flashed in his mind, and Lelouch’s warm voice beside it. Seven years, they had been apart. And all for something so stupid, something they had no control over. Lelouch talked as if he had a debt to Suzaku, but he could tell that their time spent together wasn’t fake. The dinners the three of them shared, laughing and joking like Lelouch still had his title, and Japan still had its name, and dragons hadn’t torn through the country’s earth to leave the land scored for an almost decade.

_But maybe… I do fight for someone…_

“I have people to protect, who Zero puts in danger,” was all he said. Euphemia’s brows knitted close together, and her mouth tilted open, as if to comment.

Suzaku flicked his gaze to the ground, and she sighed.

“Very well then. Would you escort Lord Zero here, please, Officer Kururugi?”

“…As you wish, your majesty,” he gave a quick bow, scurrying away. Once he was sure Euphemia was out of sight, he let his shoulders curl up into a rigid stance.

 _Was he really supposed to do this?_ He suppressed a growl, an irritated hand tugging against his uniform _. Surely Euphemia saw how irritated he became around the rebel? Or perhaps,_ he thought. That was exactly why she had asked it of him. For his constant vigilance to watch Zero while he was in the administration building.

 _It was an order,_ he repeated in his head like a mantra. It was an order and he had to follow through with it.

He shook the doubt out of his head, pressing his ID to the keypad of a nearby door.

It opened with a _woosh_ , and inside was Zero. He sat in the chair next to the plain desk, one leg hiked up over the other. The mask tilted towards him, and he stilled near the entrance.

“I’m here to escort you to the princess.” He said in a clipped tone.

“Wonderful,” Zero rose to his feet. Suzaku kept his eyes on the papers sprawling the desk, until the violet suit stopped beside him. He jerked to attention, quickly exiting the room.

He heard a soft chuckle, and the clack of Zero’s boots accompanied him out.

They managed several corridors before Zero, of course, made a comment.

“You seem tense.” Zero noted.

Suzaku stayed stubbornly silent. Fingers curled by his side, nails digging in through his gloves. By his side, the weight of his sword bounced against his thigh. Mostly decorative, but still something he _could_ use if he wanted to.

He risked a glance backward, but as usual, Zero’s glassy mask revealed nothing. Not even his pose gave anything away; he simply strutted in confidence with a lazy gait behind Suzaku.

Lip turned downward, he continued onward. The distance wasn’t enough to soothe his nerves, Euphemia’s meeting room dragging too close, too fast.

Stopping in front, his feet refused to move forward, hand pressed to the door. Zero waited patiently behind him, ever the hinderance with his tolerance.

“Try anything and you die.” Suzaku said coldly. He stepped back, regardless, letting Zero pass.

“Why would I want to kill someone with Japan’s best interest in mind?” Zero chuckled. “Your mind is clouded by your hatred, Kururugi.”

“And yet yours is cloaked in lies and deceit,” Suzaku scoffed. “Know yourself before you criticise others.”

Zero laughed.

Suzaku followed at his heels, ever watchful.

Euphemia was waiting for Zero, her smile wide. _Just why is the princess so happy to see him?_ Suzaku wondered. _I don’t understand…_

“Suzaku!” Euphemia called to him. He blinked, focusing in on the princess sitting at the table. Zero made his way over, giving a short bow before settling into a chair opposite her.

“Come join us!”

“I would prefer to stand watch, your majesty,” he dipped his head. “Please allow me to do my job.”

Euphemia just nodded, her smile still wide on her face. She turned to their guest. “Are you going to…?” She asked. Zero shook his head. “I see…”

Suzaku remained stoic against the wall.

He listened to Euphemia and Zero talk in hushed voices. For some reason, Zero had turned off the amplifier on his helmet, that kept his voice booming. Now, it was quiet, and even in the small room he could barely distinguish it.

But something in it… there was a familiar drawl there, something he couldn’t identify, but made something in his stomach _ache_.

“After we’ve established that, will you be going?” Euphemia asked.

“Yes.”

 _Zero is leaving Japan?_ Suzaku inhaled. _But why? How can he fight if he’s not here?_

“Leave it to me,” Zero murmured. “You have my word, Euphemia.”

 _And what is that worth?_ Suzaku thought darkly to himself. He would voice his concerns, but the look of confidence on Euphemia’s face made the words die on his tongue.

He was just a soldier, despite the small graces Euphemia allowed him at times, for some reason. He couldn’t overstep his boundaries.

“I can see myself out.” Zero suddenly said. Suzaku jerked his head up to see Zero on his feet, Euphemia standing beside him.

He twitched, unable to stop himself from stepping closer to her. Their hands were linked together, Zero giving her a firm handshake.

Suzaku slid in behind Euphemia, sending Zero a dark look. That mask tilted to the side, but he barely moved, aside from his fingers slipping out of Euphemia’s.

“My people will be waiting for me,” Zero said. “Until our next meeting, your highness.” He gave a short bow before slipping out.

Suzaku immediately felt his posture slacken, and he sighed, dragging a hand through his sweaty locks.

“What do you think of him, Suzaku?”

He snapped his back straight, turning to the princess. “I think it’s important to keep an eye on him, your majesty.”

Euphemia nodded slowly. “I suppose it is. But, I think he means well for Japan.”

 _I trust him_. The words were unspoken between them, but something told him Euphemia knew more than she let on. _Of course she would, she’s the princess,_ he chastised himself. _It’s her job to know these things, and if Zero was going to reveal himself to anyone, it wouldn’t be me. There’s no reason to, not when it’s so obvious I don’t trust him._

“You’ll see,” Euphemia interrupted his thoughts. That bright smile was back on her face. “Give it some time.”

He really didn’t think he would, but he wasn’t about to voice his concerns as much to Euphemia. Despite how nice and bubbly she always seemed, she _was_ still his superior.

“…As you wish, your majesty.”

* * *

“You must feel quite redundant right now, CC.” Lelouch said as he took off his mask. He gave CC a lopsided smirk, but she just shrugged.

“You have no need for my connection anymore, now that you’ve found your dragon. Do you want me to leave?”

He frowned, thinking the question over. _Did_ he want CC to leave? She had no real strategic use with Gawain by his side, true, but he had come to expect her presence there, by his side while he worked. Her snarky remarks and small smiles for when they were alone helped ground him. He had no other real friends, no one to confer with without his mask on.

 _Friends, huh?_ He silently mulled to himself. _I seem to be bad at keeping them close…_

“I think if you have somewhere else you need to be, I won’t stop you leaving,” he eventually said. “But, if you wish to remain, I will also not chase you out. Go where you are most comfortable. Ignore my pointless jabs.”

She almost looked happy at that, but her hair slipped down to hide her face before Lelouch had enough time to confirm her expression.

“I would, however, like you to come to Pendragon with me,” he said. “I could use your help.”

“Admitting that can’t be easy,” CC hummed. “Coming from you.”

“Don’t make me waste having to do it, then, witch,” he grunted. She laughed, dry and airily.

“I’ll come to Pendragon with you,” she nodded.

Lelouch didn’t realise how tense he was until he felt his shoulders slacken. He gave a curt nod, despite how CC wasn’t looking at him.

His fingers found his phone in his pocket, curling around the block. He had no idea when he would be returning to Japan, if at all. _Once things are set in motion in Pendragon, I might not be able to leave… Especially if…_

He fished the phone out, pressing over the buttons. He saw Suzaku’s name flash in his recent messages. It seemed he barely messaged anyone else on his personal phone. Milly’s name was next down the list, and Shirley’s interchanged at times, depending on when she decided to lecture him.

He felt a smile grace his face. _I’m going to miss these conversations._

He flicked a message off to Suzaku before turning back to CC.

“So then-” He paused, interrupted by a buzzing. He glanced back down to his phone. An immediate response? Suzaku was never on his phone.

 _Meet up soon?_ The message said.

He snorted. _Now?_

_Yes! : ) I’ve just gotten off duty! Let’s go outside the city! I’ll bring Lancelot!_

Lelouch flinched. _Of course. I’ll be there in half an hour._

_See you then!_

He buried his phone once more, glancing back to CC. “Why do you even follow me, CC?” he sighed.

“Amusement, mostly,” she admitted. “You’re interesting to watch, and I’m very bored.”

He scoffed at her, rolling his eyes childishly. “Happy to provide, then.”

“You’re not.”

“You’re right, I’m not.”

“You shouldn’t make a habit of lying, Lelouch,” CC rolled her shoulders, leaning back into the couch. “It’ll get you into a lot more trouble than you realise.”

He smirked at that. “Believe me, I know.”

* * *

He couldn’t help but trot happily into the stables. Lelouch usually never messaged him first. Mostly, Suzaku had to engage the conversation.

For Lelouch to reach out to him, it must truly be a special occasion.

He bounced happily over to where Lancelot was lounging, in a set of stables close by to the DRAD entrance. His head snapped up when he noticed Suzaku at the gate.

“Aroo!” He stumbled to his feet, pressing up against the barrier to demand pats.

“Lancelot, please,” Suzaku laughed, shoving him away. “You’re supposed to be a military dragon. At least act defined!”

Lancelot snorted, tongue darting out to slide up the side of Suzaku’s face. “Lancelot! That’s disgusting! We’re going out to meet with Lelouch, and you’ve just gotten spit _everywhere_.”

He crossed his arms as Lancelot hung his head, big, turquoise eyes constantly darting back up to his rider. Suzaku used his shirt sleeve to rub off the saliva on his face, sighing.

“All right, let’s get you saddled up, come on.” Lancelot trotted happily on the spot, his pep immediately back in his step. Suzaku shook his head; his dragon always was terrible at staying down.

He threw the saddle on, jumping up after it. With a quick squeeze of his thighs, Lancelot was moving; trotting down the lines of stables to the tarmac outside.

Several groups milled around the roads. He saw a few dragons lazing around, scratching boredly at the ground while their riders talked in a circle around them.

Lancelot stomped past them all, stepping out into a barren area of the tarmac. Suzaku tugged on the reins.

“Let’s go bud.”

Lancelot launched into the air, soaring out into the open sky. The cold wind immediately whipped by his face, throwing his hair in a clumped mess behind him.

He laughed into the sun, slapping the reins harder. The remaining outskirts of the city surged below them, until Lancelot dipped down past the protective wall.

He slowed down, gliding casually over the fields and occasional trees while Suzaku searched.

It didn’t take long. He noticed the familiar mop of black hair, and the brown jacket lazily slung over thin shoulders. Lelouch was standing atop a hill rise, facing out into the stretching grassland and the crop fields beyond.

“Down there boy! It’s Lelouch!” He reached down to rub Lancelot’s side, earning a happy roar in response. There was little more he had to do to guide Lancelot down as his dragon descended, touching down a short distance away from their friend.

Suzaku jumped off his back immediately, throwing an arm back and forth as he ran forward. “Lelouch! Lelouch, hey!”

Lelouch waved lazily at him, a soft smile on his face. He straightened, eyes widening.

Suzaku slowed down, turning around to flinch as Lancelot lunged towards them. He huffed loudly, prancing up to Lelouch. Lelouch moved to stumble back, but Lancelot already had his huge head butting up against Lelouch’s side.

It was his obvious way of asking for a pat back, but Suzaku wasn’t sure if Lelouch knew as much.

“Oi! Lancelot!” Suzaku whistled, pointing angrily away. “Get off him!”

Lancelot grunted, but relented, stepping back to Suzaku’s side.

“I’m so sorry, Lelouch,” he sighed, touching Lancelot’s snout. “He’s just excited.”

“It’s fine,” Lelouch laughed, waving him off. “It’s good to see you again, Lancelot. You’ve grown so much since we last met.”

Lancelot bounced around them happily, snorting in that loud fashion of his.

“I assume that means he’s glad to see me?” Lelouch smiled.

“You could say that,” Suzaku sighed. He snatched up the reins hanging from Lancelot’s neck, tugging him backwards. “I’m just glad he remembers you. I was a little worried, since he’s been in the military for so long.”

Lelouch’s gaze softened, glancing back to Suzaku’s dragon. “It would seem your dragon is stronger than that, no?”

Suzaku nodded. He felt himself stand a little straighter. “He is. It’s all thanks to him we’ve been doing so well recently.”

“Have you been promoted again?” Lelouch laughed. “I turn away for what, a few _days_ , and you’re-”

“No no!” Suzaku interrupted. “Ah, well, kinda? I mean, I’ve been an acting Major, or sorts, I guess you could say…”

“Never a dull day with you, is it?” Lelouch titled his head to the side, gaze searching.

“I meant that, with everything that’s happened _since_ then. _Including_ then. These weeks have gone by so fast it’s hard to believe. If we’re not outside the city testing something, then Lancelot’s holed up in the research lab to test all the new armour.”

“New armour?” Lelouch hummed.

“That’s what we’ve been doing, yeah,” he shrugged.

“Something tells me you shouldn’t be saying that so freely,” Lelouch said quietly. Suzaku paused at his tone, giving his friend a side glance.

Lelouch was doing his best to stare away from him. Suzaku shuffled by his side, nervously picking at the edges of his jacket.

“But you’re my friend,” he muttered weakly.

“And you’re sworn to military research.”

Suzaku frowned. “Are you saying I shouldn’t trust my friend, Lelouch?”

“I’m _saying_ ,” he stressed. “That you should be more sparing with your information. I’m worried about you.”

 _He’s worried… about me?_ Suzaku frowned. “Well, I’m worried about _you_.”

“Why?”

“You know why,” Suzaku scoffed. “When am I not worried about you, Lelouch? At any moment, your father could…” he shook his head. “You know what I’m talking about.”

“Well,” Lelouch clicked his tongue. “Just keep your cool and don’t tell anyone, and we’ll be fine, won’t we? It’s been _years_ , Suzaku. I’m not scared of what my father might do if he decided to come for us.”

“Do you… think he will?”

“No, I think I’m little more than a background reminder to him at this point. If he remembers Nunnally and I at all. I suppose he might have moved on to more destructive matters.”

Suzaku frowned, staring down at his feet. Lelouch and Nunnally were so much more than that, and he knew Lelouch didn’t believe what his father said about them, but…

But then why did he feel like Lelouch was trying to distance himself even more? Even from… him?

 _He’s not,_ he snapped at himself immediately. _He’s my friend, and he needs my support, not my hounding questions._

It reminded him of what Kallen had frequently shouted at him on the battlefield. A hound of Britannia. He felt his lips quirk up at that.

_Perhaps I am, if it means I can protect Lelouch and save him from another horrible war._

“Lelouch-”

A ringtone cut him off, and Lelouch flinched.

“Sorry, might be Nunnally,” Lelouch whispered, fishing out his phone and pressing it to his ear. “Hello?”

Suzaku waited while Lelouch made several sounds of affirmation, muttering into the phone. He quickly hung up with a promise, and Suzaku looked expectantly at him.

“I’m sorry, Suzaku,” Lelouch sighed, burying the phone. “I have to go.”

“Oh… already?” Suzaku shook his head, putting on his brightest smile for Lelouch. “Say hi to Nunnally then, would you?”

“Always,” Lelouch smiled back. “We can reschedule for some other time. Just us, and coffee.”

“Sounds good.”

“Goodbye Suzaku.”

Suzaku gave his best bow at the waist, hand resting over his heart. “Until next time, your majesty.”

Lelouch laughed, already beginning to walk off. Suzaku watched him head back into the city, a black blur melding into the wall.

By his side, Lancelot nudged his arm, using his teeth to tug at the fabric of his uniform. He leaped up onto Lancelot’s back, giving the city once last glance before sighing.

“It just feels like every time he leaves, I might never see him again, you know?”

Lancelot looked back up at him sadly. He gave a soft whine.

Suzaku touched his earring, sighing again. “I know. Let’s go.”

He clicked his tongue, and Lancelot shot up into the air. He made his way back to the base, leisurely flying lowly while above them, patrols navigated to and from the landing points. Suzaku was glad he had gotten most of his patrol duties dropped after joining under Lloyd in the DRAD. Lloyd didn’t want his precious specimen going away so much, and with the First Prince directly funding their project, no one could refuse Suzaku’s superior’s orders.

Lancelot touched down on the tarmac outside, trotting inside. Heading straight to the DRAD, he wriggled off Lancelot’s back before entering.

Cecile and Lloyd were milling around a screen, voices raised in discussion.

“What’s going on?” Suzaku hurried up to them as Lancelot moved off to the side to settle himself down.

“We have a new assignment,” Cecile smiled at him.

“Congratulations, Suzaku!” Lloyd grinned at him, something shining in his eyes. “You’re going to Britannia!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When your dragon wants pats you GIVE HIM PATS!!!!!  
> Happy early birthday Lelouch! Good luck killing ur dad fam!


	8. Chapter 8

Lelouch reclined in his chair, hiking a leg up over the other. Velvet brushed over velvet as he watched his sister.

She scrawled her signature across pages and pages, her hand a swift constant motion. He had already written Zero’s name across those involving him, but his wasn’t needed as much as the Viceroy’s.

He would offer his assistance, but he knew Euphemia would want to do it herself; she had the stubborn Britannian in her like that.

“I tried to speak with father,” Euphie said quietly. Lelouch immediately stiffened.

“And? What did our glorious father have to say?”

“Nothing,” Euphie sighed. She curled a strand of hair behind her ear, her expression dull and unimpressed.

“Nothing?” Lelouch grunted.

“I couldn’t reach him. I had to tell Schneizel instead. Apparently, our father is too busy to care about ruling the ‘empire’.”

Lelouch was not surprised in the least. Emperor Charles barely made appearances as it was, he suspected he cared even less for his children.

Euphie smiled sadly, her hand stilling over the paper. “Schneizel isn’t happy about it; he doesn’t approve.”

“Of course he doesn’t. But we’re still going ahead, I take it?”

“We must,” Euphie nodded. She resumed her paperwork, sliding over a single sheet to Lelouch.

He took it, sparing it a glance. Printed in neat ink across the page was a formal declaration of Japan’s independence, with Euphemia’s signature scrawled over the bottom line.

“Then it’s done?” he breathed, locking gazes with his sister.

She nodded, smiling. “Prime Minister Ohgi and I will be able to watch over all the changes. We’ll start gradual, keep it small. Japan will be ready for you when you return, brother.”

 _Then it is safe for me to leave, then,_ he let his eyes slide shut, the silence of the room washing over him. Soon, his life would be in turmoil, thrown back into the heart of his troubles. He would be returning to Britannia, to his father, to the life he had rejected.

To end it all…

And start anew.

He rose from his chair, and Euphemia followed suit.

“Euphie, I leave Japan in your hands,” he gave her a bow, reaching up to kiss her hand.

“And I leave the homeland in yours, Lelouch.” She smiled down at him before pulling him into a hug.

“Take care, brother. Be careful.”

“You too… sister,” he whispered back. “And please, watch over Nunnally.”

“I will. She’ll be safe, Lelouch.”

Lelouch nodded, not trusting words to give him the emotion he needed to convey. He walked away, mask sliding into place, leaving the administration building and his sisters behind.

He was leaving Japan in good hands. Euphie and Suzaku would be able to handle the change, and he trusted the team he was leaving behind.

The flight over to Pendragon was uneventful. He took no more than the necessary clothes for their mission and CC by his side. Their fake names and passports slipped them through the border patrol, and Lelouch’s obvious Britannian ancestry kept anyone from questioning them. A Britannian returning home from an occupied area was nothing surprising or suspicious.

He couldn’t risk Gawain, however, and had him coming over with the Black Knight force via the ocean.

The capital was as polished white and clean as he remembered it. The main streets held little interest to him, so he scorned them.

“Within the main walls, the city is well kept. To truly blend in, we’ll need to head to the outskirts. My plan requires steps before we enter the palace and face my father.”

And they did. CC seemed to know her way through the back alleys and roads, to which Lelouch wisely kept quiet about.

She lead him up a set of stairs built into the side of a house, erected far too close to its neighbour to be healthy.

But the poor and dirty of Pendragon didn’t care for lawns and well-kept palaces for homes. They wanted cheapness to blend in with security, stone and brick and fabric to provide cover from watchful eyes.

Atop the first storey was a single room, what Lelouch deducted to be a game or meeting place of some kind.

“Is this wise?” CC asked, throwing herself down on what Lelouch assumed to be the skeleton of a couch. “Just you and your dragon?”

“It’s a stealth mission,” Lelouch grunted. “The more people fumbling around the more likely my father is to catch wind of my assault before it can happen.”

“And?”

Lelouch sighed. “And I have Kallen set with orders to arrive in a few days, as back up.”

“ _Just_ Kallen?”

“Guren is more than capable back up for Gawain,” Lelouch explained. “So long as I have Guren watching Gawain’s tail, I can focus on dealing with my father. And I need her to sneak Gawain through the sea borders.”

He stalked over to the window of their new base, sitting against the windowsill. Outside was a slow moving street, the traffic small and tedious. Only those with a purpose to be there were there. It was nothing like the main thoroughfares of Pendragon, but that was exactly what he needed.

Secrecy.

No one could know the eleventh prince was still alive, and about to challenge the Emperor. He subconsciously pulled the hooded cape he wore further down his face, obscuring his bangs. Within reason, he should have died his hair, or changed his face somewhat. He was relying on people not being able to see the identifiers of the royal family, which, while few and far between, were still obnoxiously present as he tried to move around the city.

If not for CC, and her lazy knowledge of the city, he was sure they would be in more trouble.

But Lelouch always planned ahead at _least_ three steps, and so, he was not worried. He reached up to fiddle with his earring, still adjusting to the new weight. Perhaps it had been dumb to sift through his belonging back in Japan to hunt it down, but after seeing the violet bouncing on Suzaku’s ear every time he saw the man, something heavy had settled in his chest. He felt like he needed the weight there, to know the chip of forest clung against gold and skin.

It wouldn’t matter when he was wearing his disguise anyway; no one could see his ears under his helmet.

“Matching earrings?” CC laughed. “How quaint.”

“It’s no concern of yours,” he muttered, dropping his arm. “It matters not.”

“It’s cute,” her lips quirked upwards when he shot her a glare. “I wonder what our adversary would think of it?”

“He’ll never know.” The sad truth, but it was unlikely that he would be seeing Suzaku again anytime soon. Once he ascended the throne, he would be stuck in Pendragon to tend to Britannia while his sister dealt with Japan. Suzaku would not leave his country, and if the way he had been protective of Euphemia had been anything to go off, Lelouch thought his friend might find a bigger promotion coming his way soon enough.

It was what Suzaku wanted, he was sure. To finally be noticed for his efforts.

He quickly changed the subject, not wanting to dwell where he knew CC would cause trouble.

“One of the guards with codes to the palace’s dragon hangar comes here to bet in the blackjack rounds every Wednesday,” Lelouch casually pushed some unruly strands of hair behind an ear. CC tilted her head, but otherwise didn’t move.

“So?”

“So that’s our ticket into the palace,” Lelouch smirked, tapping the side of the window frame. “We move at midnight.”

* * *

Despite having never visited Britannia before, Suzaku had always imagined it to be further away than it turned out to be. The homeland was often spoken of with reverence; Britannians _loved_ their land.

He had always thought that nothing would ever be bigger than Tokyo at its grandest. The city was massive, sprawling, and encompassed the horizon in every direction safe for Mt. Fuji.

But compared to Pendragon, it was… _tiny_. From the seat of the plane, Suzaku found his nose and cheek stuck to the window as he stared out it.

Down below, Pendragon stretched across every inch of the land. The expansive city dotted every rise and fall in the earth; buildings, domes, skyscrapers, they were everywhere. He thought the Tokyo settlement’s buildings had been impressive, but now that he had seen much bigger and brighter ones, he wasn’t sure if he could even _remember_ what the Tokyo ones looked like. All he could see was white, so pure and bright like snow had caked onto each and every surface.

It was beautiful, and the massive rectangle structure dominating it all in the centre demanded his attention the closer they got.

He realised they were flying _into_ the cluster of buildings, more closely resembling a series of halls like out of the grand entrance to a castle than any other structure. He supposed the administration building in Tokyo had been built to reflect Pendragon’s royal grounds, to inject a sense of Britannia to the inner circle in Area Eleven.

He even saw gardens, and a body of water, between the walls.

“Our little devicer is such a country boy,” Lloyd chuckled.

“He’s just excited!” Cecile protested. “He’s never been here before. Let him have a moment, Lloyd!”

Lloyd just scoffed, sticking his head back into his tablet. “Wait till you have to hear all the churches ring those god damn bells every hour. Then you’ll wish you were back in Japan.”

After landing, they settled in almost immediately, and Suzaku had his first encounter with the way the Britannians organised their research facilities.

Big, expansive, and gigantic didn’t seem like proper words to describe it. It felt like space was something they didn’t even stop to _care_ about while constructing. Or, if they did, they insisted to add such high ceilings that dragons could fight in the rooms.

They passed through several of the hangar-like rooms, some with people in lab coats busy working, some with dragons as well.

Suzaku hung back a few steps to see what was going on. In the space he stopped in, there were two dragons set up in a small round raised platform in the middle. Off to the side, two sets of scientists were tapping away at computers, while one stood up watching the dragons carefully.

“All right, give the order,” they said, nodding to people on the platform Suzaku hadn’t noticed before.

The two standing above the others called out to the dragons, who roared in acknowledgment. _Those must be their riders_ , Suzaku thought.

In front of each dragon was a chuck of wood, with several cameras on tripods set up around them.

One dragon sliced at the wood, and nothing more than some shaving came off it. The groove cut into it was deep, from what Suzaku could see, but it was nothing he hadn’t seen before. Nothing that Lancelot, or any other dragon, couldn’t do.

The second, however, seemed to have some kind of metal coating over its claws. The rider pressed a button on a handheld device, and a high pitch whirring sound filled the air. It was cut off by the sound of wood splitting, as the dragon’s claws dug into the block in front of it, it sliced fully through the whole chunk. It snapped into two halves, the dragon’s hand still raised slightly above them.

He noticed the metal part of the claws was slightly blurry to the eye. _It’s… vibrating,_ he realised. _At such a high speed… it would slice through dragon scales in seconds._

Never before had he seen anything like _that_. It unsettled him the more he saw, so he ran away to catch up with Cecile and Lloyd, ignoring the way the scientists behind him seemed impressed with the results.

Lloyd was chattering away about something, and from the look on Cecile’s face, she had no idea what it was. She saved a confused glance for him, smiling.

“He’s just excited in his own way,” she laughed. “It’s been a while since we’ve been back in the capital.”

 _That makes sense, in a Lloyd way,_ Suzaku chuckled silently to himself.

Their journey ended in a wide, circular room. Shiny, slick floors of tiles lined the floors, nudging into the thick sheets of plastered walls.

Monitors and machinery were set up around the centre, circling a raised platform in a similar way.

As sad as he was to admit it, the parlour of shine and cleanliness made their home back at the Tokyo settlement look like a dumpster. Despite the attempts to build Tokyo up into a small piece of Britannia, it paled; a mere shadow of the true self.

Perhaps he wasn’t supposed to be there.

But then he noticed his dragon laying down in the middle of the dais, and couldn’t supress the laugh.

“Lancelot!” Suzaku grinned, running over to his dragon. Lancelot cooed at him, bouncing up and down before dipping his head to nudge into Suzaku’s side.

“Hm? What’s that?” Lloyd muttered off to his side. “We just arrive and already he’s coming?”

“Who?” Suzaku blinked back into focus. A messenger was scurrying away, out of the facility.

“Schneizel.” Was all Lloyd said.

Suzaku blinked comically. _The first prince!?_ “The prince is coming here?”

Lloyd looked uninterested, and Cecile had unconsciously straightened her posture. Suzaku did the same.

“What is he like?” He asked.

“Busy.” Cecile replied.

“And quick to the point,” Lloyd waved a hand. “Like a little Charlie, except just as tall. And demanding. But, he _does_ pay my budget, so…”

Lloyd’s gaze had left him, shifting to something behind him. Suzaku quickly moved out of his way as the First Prince of Britannia walked into the DRAD facility.

He was only followed by one other person, which stuck out to Suzaku. The last royal he had met, Euphemia, had multiple people trailing her. This man who stuck to the back steps of the prince was tall, taller than Schneizel himself, and incredibly skinny through his tight, formal outfit. _Hardly military,_ Suzaku noted, brushing a finger absently against the brown of his own uniform.

Suzaku bowed beside Cecile, but Lloyd just stood back, smugly waving at the prince.

“Prince Schneizel, how good to see you!” He said cheerily.

“Earl Asplund, you’re as enthusiastic as ever. How is the progress on the latest prototype?” Schneizel asked.

“The same as the report I sent before we came over,” Lloyd shrugged. “We plan to run some tests with Lancelot using the more advanced resources here in the homeland, before I start to let you manufacture more armour.”

“More?” Suzaku couldn’t stop the question pouring from his mouth. He immediately regretted it when all eyes turned to him.

“Yes. I’m looking to have this armour equipped to the Knights of the Round soon.” Schneizel explained.

“Mm. Suzaku, didn’t I tell you that?” Lloyd frowned.

“You conveniently forgot to mention it,” Cecile muttered.

“That’s all right,” Suzaku said, dipping his head. “I should have guessed, really. It makes sense, I’m just testing the prototype.”

“Like a good little devicer,” Lloyd grinned.

“Indeed.” Schneizel waltzed up to where Lancelot was sitting, staring up at him. Even with the prince’s great height, Lancelot still looked down at him with his long neck.

“This must be the dragon that tests the prototype,” Schneizel muttered to himself. Suzaku thought it was a useless observation to make, when Lancelot was wearing the armour right in front of him, but he wasn’t about to tell the Frist Prince as much.

“Your majesty?” Suzaku approached, giving Lancelot a side glance. His dragon looked indifferent, matching the prince’s gaze.

“I’m very fascinated by your dragon.” The prince’s stare remained on Lancelot, watching him carefully. There was a glint in his eyes, of something Suzaku couldn’t recognise.

“Why, your majesty?” Suzaku asked.

“He’s interesting,” Schneizel explained. “Even for a fighter class dragon, he’s big. And despite the extra weight keeping him heavy, his test results still show decent speed. It’s not often such a dragon appears.”

Suzaku hadn’t thought about it that way. To him, Lancelot was just _his_ dragon. An extension of himself, like he was when he sat in Lancelot’s saddle; just another piece of Lancelot’s armour.

They were just… dragon and rider. Best friends.

Schneizel turned around to face Suzaku, his smile widening. “I look forward to seeing more results from him.”

“Of course, your majesty,” Suzaku bowed at the waist. The prince walked off, and Suzaku sighed in relief.

“He’s a bit intimidating, isn’t he?” Suzaku chuckled. Lancelot grunted, reaching out to nudge his nose against Suzaku’s hand.

Suzaku gave him a scratch, smiling when Lancelot cooed happily under his touch. “What do you think?”

Lancelot did as close to a shrug as he could with his huge shoulders. “You’re too smart for your own good.” Suzaku laughed. “You know, sometimes I think you’re too cunning to be my dragon. You’re more like Lelouch, sometimes.”

Lancelot stuck his tongue out to lick up the side of Suzaku’s face.

“Or maybe not!” Suzaku snorted, pulling him away. “I yield!”

Lancelot huffed hot air over him, smelling of seared beef. It blew the strands of hair out of his face for a moment, before they clumped back down over his eyebrows. He swatted at them uselessly, knowing they would just crawl back while he was moving around.

“Suzaku?” Cecile called for him.

“Yes?” He stumbled over to the research desks.

Cecile was bent over a computer, one hand idly fiddling with the mouse. “You have until noon, then we’re going to start. While we get Lancelot ready with the new equipment, you’re welcome to wander around base, if you want.”

Suzaku mostly wanted to stay with Lancelot, but he could tell Cecile was trying to nudge him out of the building. “All right,” he relented, slipping off.

He wanted to appreciate Pendragon, walk around and see how Britannians experienced their own country, their own culture. But being in the crisp, clean, white walls of the palace at the centre, he couldn’t think of anything else than his secret prince friend.

 _When was the last time you and Nunnally were here, Lelouch?_ He wondered. _Was it when you renounced your claim? When your father sent you off to die, and you met me?_

Suddenly he wished he were standing there with Lelouch and Nunnally, watching them laugh and tell him stories about _their_ home, like he had with his. _It’s been so long since the three of us have had time to just_ be _together,_ Suzaku sighed _. I miss them._

His fingers were already at his phone, and he dialled Lelouch before he could talk himself out of it. It took a few rounds of ringing before Lelouch picked up, his voice distant at first before he came closer to the phone.

“ _Yes?_ ”

“Lelouch!” Suzaku grinned. “How are you?”

“ _Fine, fine. I can’t talk long, though, I’m about to go into a meeting_.”

“A meeting?”

“ _With my team_ ,” Lelouch scoffed. “ _You know, at university. Where I study_.”

Suzaku grunted. “Yeah I know. No need to be so stubborn.”

“ _But that’s my best defining quality_ ,” Lelouch chuckled. “ _So what are you doing now, then, to warrant calling me instead?”_

“I’m out of Tokyo on a mission.” It wasn’t exactly a lie, but… He wasn’t sure how Lelouch would react to him being in the homeland. “I just wanted to check in on you, I guess. I miss you.”

“ _Hm, you would be concerned with others before yourself._ _We just saw each other, Suzaku.”_

“I know. Can’t I just miss my best friend?”

“ _Hopefully it’s going well, then_?”

“Well enough,” Suzaku smiled. _More than that,_ he thought. He desperately wanted to tell Lelouch about everything that had happened, but he held back.

“I’ll let you know when I’m back, and we can hang out again.”

“ _Very well_.”

The hourly bell began to chime, spooking him. He was supposed to be back by then! “Oh, shit, I gotta go Lelouch!”

“ _Okay_ ,” Lelouch sounded amused. “ _I’ll talk to you later, then_.”

Suzaku scrambled away, racing back towards the DRAD facility.

* * *

Something felt off, when he hung up the phone.

He thought he was hearing things, but then, when he listened, he too could hear the same bells as he had heard in the distance of Suzaku’s call.

_Strange…_

“Do they ring the bells every hour in Tokyo, like they do in Pendragon?” He turned to CC.

“Of course they don’t,” CC said blankly. He had expected a scoff form her words, but her tone was bored, as usual. “Did you ever hear bells when you were in Japan?”

“No,” Lelouch realised. “I didn’t, unless it was in school, but they rung there, not…”

“Why do you ask?” CC rolled over, staring up at him through the gaps in her hair.

Lelouch paused, looking out the window, towards the closet church sending out the hourly bell chime. “Because I heard bells, in the call.”

“With Suzaku?” CC tilted her head. “Then he’s not in Japan anymore.”

“No,” Lelouch heard his tone harden. “No he’s not.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now we're in the second half of the story. Not quite half way yet according to my chapter notes, but almost!  
> Thank you for your patience, I hope this fic can continue to entertain~


	9. Chapter 9

The hallways were bright, fluorescent bulbs bleeding over every surface from above. Suzaku’s boots clapped loudly against the smooth, marbled floor. It had taken a few days for him to get used to such a reflective surface; the constant, droning noise making him flinch at first. At least with such a natural form of defence, there was little chance of someone being able to sneak around the palace with decent footwear.

He found himself trotting through the barracks, naturally drawing closer to the stables. There were several pockets of dragon residence throughout the Pendragon palace, mostly dotting the edges of the mass buildings. 

His gaze travelled over several close stalls, watching the dragons inside. One with a mottled body raised its head to watch him walk past, eyes narrowed. He gave it a wave, and it visibly flinched, shying away.

 _Maybe they’re not used to people walking around,_ he frowned. _But surely patrols pass through here, so dragons cannot be stolen. How strange…_

Not wanting to upset the dragons further, he left the stables, heading further into the compound.

Unfortunately, he somehow ended up passing through a common room for humans, already littered with people unwinding or preparing for their patrols.

His skin crawled, hair standing up underneath his flight uniform. Determination weighed his feet down, keeping him on the path through the barracks.

Some of the soldiers glanced his way, but not a single one sent him a jab. They mostly seemed preoccupied with themselves, engrossed in discussion.

“I heard Area Eleven has been calm these days,” one grunted out. Another groaned, shaking his head.

“Who cares? Like they’re gunna deploy noble soldiers there anyway. Besides, you want to put in more work for the same pay?”

The second man chuckled. “You got me there. But oh man, I saw the weirdest thing the other day.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Down at that club, you know the one?”

“Aw man, you _still_ go outside the gates? Dumbass.”

“It’s better down there! The girls are more fun!”

Suzaku kept walking, feeling no need to eavesdrop further now that the conversation was growing more personal.

“Yeah, swear I saw a guy wearing the outfit of that terrorist over in Area Eleven, just without the weird helmet. It was crazy!”

Suzaku froze. Zero… was in Pendragon? It had to be a mistake. _But that can’t be, why would he leave Japan when-_

Then he remembered it. In the last conversation he had heard from Princess Euphemia and Zero.

He had planned to leave Japan.

 _That’s it…_ he felt his eyes widen. _He_ is _here. Zero is in Pendragon!_

He had to do something. His mind was a raging confusion over the man. He had done so many bad things, and yet, he felt the sliver of Euphemia’s smile take over the blank slate of Zero’s reflective mask.

And, he supposed, despite the trouble he gave them in the military, Zero did do things that benefitted the Japanese at times.

But his methods were _wrong_ ; something Suzaku could never support. _I’ll have to look into it sometime,_ he determined. _Find out why he’s here and-_

“ _Suzaku Kururugi, please report to the Dragon Research and Development Facility_ ,” a voice he didn’t recognise crackled over the PA system. It was so similar to his calls to the DRAD at Tokyo he couldn’t help but smile.

It was nice to be needed.

* * *

It was dark, and more than a little damp, but it was necessary. They couldn’t afford to stay in one place for too long, and after Lelouch had finished the preparations to get them into the palace, the city no longer felt safe enough to dwell in.

Even in the dirty outskirts. Not when he now had to hide a dragon as distinctive in pattern and shade as Gawain.

“Isn’t a cave rather barbaric?” CC strolled up to him, glancing around. She didn’t sound interested at all.

“It’s necessary,” Lelouch grunted. “Appearances don’t matter. We won’t be here for long.”

He trotted over to where Gawain was laying down. He placed a palm over his smooth scales, flinching when Gawain turned his head to look at him.

“Hey…” he muttered lamely. Gawain snorted, butting up against Lelouch’s side.

CC was right beside him, staring over at them.

“You really have no idea how to treat dragons, do you?” she laughed.

“I have no experience to draw on,” Lelouch muttered. “How am I supposed to know what to do?”

“You’re smart, you’ll figure it out,” she shrugged. “Or ask your friend, he seems to know.”

“Who?” Lelouch frowned, running names and faces through his mind. “Suzaku?”

“Who else?”

She did have a point there. Suzaku had been with his dragon far longer than anyone else, and he seemed so in sync with him.

“I can’t, Suzaku has already seen Zero riding on Gawain,” he sighed, pulling away. He always felt better pacing, his feet gliding across the rocky floor.

The sound of his footsteps tapped loudly over the silence of the room. CC watched him from the corner of her eye, and when he turned to glance at her, he noticed his dragon watching him too.

He locked on to those gilded eyes, spinning in the middle of a sea of black and a crown of gold. Gawain flicked his ears out, head tilting to the side.

Lelouch moved to turn away, but found he couldn’t. His feet took him, almost as if on their own, to his dragon’s side once more.

He ran a hand down Gawain’s side, sliding up and over scales, tracing the bumps where his wings sprouted up from his back. He touched the smooth, silky skin stretching over the bones, felt the way Gawain flinched at the pressure.

He nipped playfully at Lelouch’s hair, chewing on a loose strand near his ear.

“Hey, watch out, you’ll get dragon slobber on my earring!” he pushed at Gawain’s snout, only succeeding in making his dragon change his target.

Gawain pawed at him, one huge clawed hand coming up to his back to drag Lelouch closer. Even if he wanted to resist, Lelouch couldn’t, lacking enough power to move anything.

He was pushed up to Gawain’s chest, and he felt his dragon brushing his nose up against his head.

“This is undignified for a prince,” he grumbled. “Would you mind?”

Gawain just snorted, pressing closer. “Fine, fine, you win. I suppose if it keeps you happy, then I can’t complain.”

He relaxed, letting Gawain groom him. He could hear CC’s flat laughter in the background, doing his best to turn and pin her with a glare.

“It figures your dragon would be the affectionate kind. A perfect match for the lost prince.”

“Witch,” he muttered. Focusing back to his dragon, he gently tugged at Gawain’s fingers, glad when he pulled them away.

“Easy boy,” he murmured. Gawain huffed, going in for one last butt of his snout before laying back down.

Satisfied, Lelouch walked back to their camp area, settling into a chair gracefully. He reached down to snatch up his tablet, flipping the lid and tapping on the screen.

“Kallen should be back tonight,” Lelouch muttered, flicking through the folders.

“I know, it’s part of the plan,” CC called out. “You already told me.”

“Why else are you hanging around if not for an update, then?” he grunted.

“Someone has to keep an eye on you,” she shrugged, walking into the camp. Despite the other chair set up opposite Lelouch’s, she chose to sit down on the rug thrown haphazardly over the rock.

“I have Gawain.” Lelouch stated.

“Someone who can converse. No offence to Gawain, of course. But your ears aren’t open to a dragon’s voice.”

“Because I’m not a witch.”

“Hmm.” CC rocked back to lay flat on the rug. It couldn’t be comfortable, Lelouch thought, with the way the rocks jutted out. CC didn’t seem to mind, or care, lounging out her legs and cradling her head above a curved arm.

Lelouch let his eyes remain on her for a moment longer, appreciating the way she seemed unfazed by their mission.

If all went well, his father would be dead by the end of the week, and Britannia would be engulfed in flames.

 _Good_.

* * *

“You needed me?” Suzaku asked, walking through the doors to the DRAD.

“Yes, over here!” Cecile waved him over.

Suzaku approached, eyes flickering to the screen above Cecile’s head. The shape of Lancelot’s body was outlined in neon colours, the background inky darkness. Words flashed next to numbers, percentages detailing his performances. It matched up with Lancelot up on the dais, standing tall in thick armour.

“How is he doing, Miss Cecile?”

“Very good!” Cecile beamed. “We actually called you to take him out on a test run around Pendragon.

“Do we have clearance to fly over the city?” Suzaku brought a hand to his ear, flicking the jewel hanging off it.

“Yes, Schneizel has approved Lancelot.” Cecile pointed to something sitting at the edge of the desk.

When Suzaku picked it up, he saw his name printed across the surface in bold lettering.

“These are Britannian Dog tags.” He frowned, turning them over to see the Britannian crest on the back. The unsaid words hung between them, their eyes locking. _I’m not Britannian._

Before Cecile could attempt to explain, Lloyd whistled to them.

“Suzaku! Lancelot is ready, get up here!”

“Coming!” He pocketed the tags before scrambling up to the platform, patting Lancelot’s side. “Hey bud. How’s the armour going?”

Lancelot snorted, shaking his shoulders. The metal clunked loudly against thick scales, running all along his spine.

“I’m still working on the straps around the saddle,” Lloyd explained, tapping one. “The pressure of the extra weight while he moves around will really affect the range.”

“You’re saying you’d rather just have him fight on his own?” Suzaku laughed. “We wouldn’t be a team, then.”

“You know I’m only interested in your dragon,” Lloyd shrugged. “Although, his results aren’t as good when you’re not on him, hmm, I suppose…”

“What do you need us to do?” Suzaku leaned against Lancelot’s side, crossing his arms.

“Your favourite thing, I’m sure. Just spin around and dive a lot, so we can analysis how the armour responds in its log.”

“All right,” he pushed a leg up against the side of the saddle, vaulting himself up into the leather seat.

“Let’s go, Lancelot!”

He heard the tail whack before Lancelot shot into the air, wings beating rapidly to lift them higher.

The circle of light above yielded to Lancelot’s form, and they broke into the sun’s rays. Warmth flooded his body, and Suzaku kept himself crouched up against Lancelot’s back.

He tugged the reins left, and Lancelot turned with them. They sailed over the broad walls of the castle like a shining beacon. Every inch of Lancelot was on fire in the sun, from the white scales to the golden claws at the end of each limb. His wings were practically fields of gemstones, turquoise mined from the heart of a mountain.

For all Suzaku knew, he could have been a son of rock and gem. Lancelot had come to him as a hatchling, a stubborn little thing, butting heads against his brothers and sisters.

Blue-green eyes had locked with his, and then Lancelot had charged _him_. He was sure if he had backed down or ran that day, then he wouldn’t have been chosen.

But he had met Lancelot’s attack head on, knocked himself unconscious, and then awoken to the news he had a bonded dragon and a class starting at nine.

In fact, if it wasn’t for Lancelot’s designation as a fighter class dragon, Suzaku was sure he would have never been allowed into the army to begin with.

“Come on bud,” he whispered down to his dragon. “We have some showing off to do for these tests. Think you can handle it?”

Lancelot didn’t need to be told twice.

He shot downward, rolling his body with wings outstretched. It slowed their descent, and made the flight more jittery as wind currents rippled over sea green skin.

Suzaku let him continue for another minute, to make sure the data settled in the components of the chest piece, and then tugged him upward.

“ _Try the Albion Strike again_ ,” Lloyd muttered through the earpiece. “ _Try and see if you can get Lancelot to control the frequency and direction of the shards.”_

Suzaku flinched, licking his dried mouth. They were far out from any buildings now, and he couldn’t see anyone below. “All right, Lancelot, we’re doing this again. Albion Strike!”

Lancelot inhaled sharply, his chest expanding and his body swinging in the motion. They climbed, gaining altitude, Suzaku letting his body rock in time to Lancelot’s surges.

“Now!” he snapped the reins. Lancelot roared, flattening his climb to spread his wings wide. With the remaining momentum, he let them slip upwards, all the while his wings brightened until they rivalled the sun’s intensity.

He brought them down with a huge _woosh_ , and crystals shot past to sail through the sky. They were too far above the ground for Suzaku to see their impact, but he had no doubt the grassy fields of the capital below were littered with the shards.

“Less!” he shouted. Lancelot gave something between a bark and a snap of his jaws. Suzaku thought it sounded somewhat affirmative, and was pleased to find the spray of jewels began to slow the more Lancelot beat his wings.

“Brilliant!” he laughed. “Now, that way!” he guided Lancelot to the east. His dragon shifted his body, rotating around as he hovered in the air. The crystals followed, spraying around them in a dazzling show of light. Suzaku had to shield his eyes with one hand pressed close to his face, the reflections of every surface burning his face.

“Enough! Fall back!” Suzaku yelled.

Lancelot recognised the command immediately, curling his wings forward to push them back. His wings turned back to their original shade, and the shards stopped flowing.

He continued to back track through the sky, head swinging from side to side, gaze watchful. Despite their location of pure isolation, away from the capital, he knew it was hard to shake the military structure.

“Easy Lancelot, easy,” he patted the side of Lancelot’s neck, stroking what scales he could reach through the armour plates.

“ _That’s enough, Suzaku_ ,” Cecile said. “ _You’re right to head back now_.”

 _Was that really all they needed?_ “Understood, Miss Cecile,” he paused when Lancelot jolted underneath him. “Lancelot?”

His head swung to the side, his eyes gazing steadily into the distance. Suzaku turned to look, searching. He couldn’t see anything; just the endless plains of grass dusted with dirt as they bled into the mountains beyond.

“Lancelot,” he tugged at the reins. “Let’s go.”

Still his dragon would not budge. _Hovering for so long won’t be good for him,_ Suzaku grunted. _What is it you see that I don’t, Lancelot?_

He let the reins fall slack, squeezing Lancelot’s chest with his thighs instead. “All right boy, go on.”

Lancelot surged forward, taking them away from the fields and further into the wilderness. This far out form Pendragon, there was little to see. Some strips of trees followed the formation of rivers, winding through the land before sprouting into full seas of greenery that stretched out to the distant mountains.

But Lancelot wasn’t heading towards them, he was banking down, eyes locked onto something in the distance rapidly approaching. A small crack in the earth, a barely visible line of brown in among the trees.

 _Is that a valley?_ He squinted, trying to determine. The more distance Lancelot swallowed, the more certain he was.

It was a ravine, tucked away in what looked like a snug cluster of trees. The land surrounding Pendragon wasn’t the most mountainous, but a decent hour of flight on a speed class dragon would eat up the miles enough to make it plausible.

But then, he also had no idea what the terrain was like _underneath_ the land. Tokyo had been full of sewers that twisted throughout the underground, like a coiled mess of arteries and veins, spitting whatever ended up in them out somewhere at random. Navigating them was almost impossible, and so no one ever did.

They were more catacombs than tunnels, at that point.

Lancelot landed at the edge of the incline, his claws digging into the soft earth and grass. Suzaku unclipped himself from the saddle to vault down, keeping one steady hand on Lancelot’s side for support.

He peered down into darkness; the compact edges of the ravine made it hard for sunlight to pierce far down, providing no geographical information for Suzaku to go off.

It seemed naturally formed enough for him, but the way it seemed to have an entry point, a pathway down inside to the shadows, made him suspicious. It made sense a narrow canyon would be formed from erosion of an ancient, long dead river, given the spring of the trees nearby. But he wasn’t so sure it hadn’t been altered in some way, or at least marked on a map somewhere.

But the location was remote; his had been the only dragon within miles, purposely for the testing he had been doing.

“Come here Lancelot,” he gave the reins a light tug, and Lancelot trotted along beside him. Suzaku began to lead him down the entrance, watching as Lancelot followed with ease. So long as his wings were curled by his sides, not even his girth kept him from travelling down into the earth.

 _This path is made for dragons,_ he realised. _Something’s down here._

He willed his feet forward faster, but kept as quiet as he could. Whatever was here, probably wasn’t friendly.

He doubted that wild dragons would be allowed to roam so close to the empire’s capital, but perhaps the hidden location had kept this place free from patrols longer than it should have. Suzaku had barely noticed, if not for the determination Lancelot had shown to get there.

 _Something drew him here,_ Suzaku glanced back at his dragon, whose gaze was steadily locked ahead of them. Barely visible in the darkness.

“Lancelot-” he cut himself off when he heard noise ahead. Something grating on stone.

He immediately settled into a crouch, hand reaching for the pommel of his sword, falling short when he remembered he couldn’t carry it in Britannia. He grit his teeth, letting the momentary anger slip away to keep his head clear.

He motioned Lancelot to move, keeping a few steps ahead of his dragon. It sounded like whatever it was was distracted, the sound continuing.

The walls merged into a ceiling, taking them through a tunnel. It was still wide enough for Lancelot, which only made Suzaku’s concerns deepen.

Eventually the passageway widened into an underground cave, easily eclipsing both him and Lancelot’s body. _How is this possible?_ He blinked, looking up at the wide ceiling.

It was dry, no water pocket under the earth nor any sign of erosion. _It must have formed thousands of years ago, and just… sat here,_ he reasoned.

A loud huff spooked him into action, crouching with his fists ready beside Lancelot. What he saw made his jaw go slack.

Zero’s latest dragon he had been riding around frequently, not like the previous ones, seemingly chosen this one. _Gawain_ , he had heard Zero call him. He was trotting around in the middle of a few jutting rocks, scraping his claws against the stone.

He turned to look at his dragon. “You found Zero’s hideout…” Suzaku whispered in awe. It was wrong; he shouldn’t have, but it has slipped out.

Gawain snapped his head up immediately, golden eyes narrowing in on Lancelot’s bulky form. He roared, wings snapping open to their full stretch. He was a lanky dragon, which only served to make his wingspan look more impressive in volume, but when Lancelot roared back, Suzaku could easily see the difference in their frames.

Without Zero’s guiding hand, he doubted Gawain would win against Lancelot like this.

Gawain must have sensed as much, for he didn’t charge forward. Instead, he kept roaring and growling at them, prowling back and forth over the rocks.

 _Whatever he’s doing here can’t be good, otherwise he wouldn’t be hiding._ Suzaku nodded to himself, mind made up.

“Lancelot, take him!”

His dragon surged forward, mouth open and claws outstretched. Gawain snarled, jumping up and out of the way to avoid Lancelot’s pounce.

Lancelot landed hard on the gravel, and Gawain used the opportunity to snap his tail around to whack over Lancelot’s face. Lancelot swung his head away from the impact, a cut beginning to well blood across his cheek.

Suzaku saw Gawain flex the curved blades at the tip of his tail, and winced, drawing a hand to his own cheek. Such a move would have _killed_ him, but only just broke Lancelot skin.

“Gawain! Stop!” A familiar voice shouted. Suzaku whipped his head around to see Zero racing up to them, a hand at the front of his helmet.

Had he just put it on? Then he had been comfortable, leaving it off. Suzaku really had caught him off guard; a rare occurrence for the mastermind.

“Zero!”

“Kururugi, call off your dragon. There’s no need to fight.”

Suzaku gritted his teeth, showing his obvious distaste. “Prove it.”

“Call Lancelot off.”

“You don’t get to say his name,” Suzaku spat. But he relented, snapping his fingers to get Lancelot’s attention. Lancelot glanced at him, and he motioned his dragon over.

Lancelot huffed, stomping away from where Gawain was puffing himself up, like an angry cat on the defensive.

Suzaku stood tall as Lancelot stopped by his side, nostrils flaring at Zero. He waited until Gawain had also relaxed, stalking over behind Zero to stand guard as well.

“What are you doing here?”

“Destroying Britannia.” Zero answered smoothly.

“ _What?_ ”

Zero shrugged. “You asked.”

“Why? You made a deal with Princess Euphemia!” Suzaku growled. “You’re going to betray her, aren’t you?”

“I have no reason to. Why would I?” He could practically see the smirk behind that mask. It reminded him of something, a prick on the edge of his consciousness he couldn’t quite place. _Weird_.

 _That’s it, I won’t stand for this!_ Suzaku raced forward, arm raised for a punch. He saw Zero flinch, but didn’t have time to reach for anything. Suzaku buried his fist in Zero’s gut, adding weight to push him backwards.

Gawain snapped his teeth dangerously close to Suzaku, and Lancelot moved to match him, growling out a warning.

Zero’s body landed against the rocks, no doubt some of them poking up into his fine suit. He grunted, a hand ghosting over the front of his clothes.

“Uncalled for,” he hissed from behind the mask.

“You deserved it.” Suzaku countered. He moved to land a kick this time, but something from behind stopped him. The collar of his shirt was pulled back, dragging him away. He felt hot breath against his skin, making him shiver.

He threw his head back to see Lancelot yanking him back, an unreadable expression over his muzzle and eyes. “Lancelot, what the hell- let me _go_!”

He struggled free as Lancelot did release him, and he turned to his side, facing both his enemy and his dragon. Lancelot just stared him down, giving him a huff that meant Suzaku was doing something stupid.

“What!?” he yelled, throwing a hand towards where Zero was starting to rise. “He’s _Zero_. Our enemy, remember?”

Lancelot rolled his eyes at him. Suzaku started, mouth open. His dragon’s gaze shifted to Zero, the man standing still, staring back.

Suddenly, Zero began laughing. “I never thought I’d have you save me, Lancelot. You’re smarter than Suzaku gives you credit for.”

Suzaku already had a grunt in his throat to argue, but it died at the mention of his name. His _first_ name.

Zero never called him that.

“Who are you really, Zero?” he asked.

“Finally, you’re wondering the right things,” Zero chuckled. “I suppose I have no choice, now. You’ve pushed my hand, Suzaku Kururugi. I hope you are prepared.”

He reached out for his helmet, and Suzaku felt his breath hitch as he heard the mechanics of the device hiss.

The mask gently tipped into Zero’s hand, and he slowly pulled it off, revealing the face underneath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh dear, this can only end badly...


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When you're a writer and an artist, it SUCKS, trying to work out if 'today is a writing day or a drawing day' lmao,,,,,  
> We do this to ourselves, tho, ahaha. Anyway, I'm making decent progress with this fic, so it all looks good right now! I didn't want to leave that cliffhanger in the last chapter for long, so here's the next chap!

He didn’t want it to be true. He had suspected, at one point, but…

“Lelouch… It can’t be…” Suzaku felt his hands shake. “You’re… you’re Zero?”

“I am,” Lelouch said. “And always have been.”

Zero, unmasked, right in front of him. _I should arrest him,_ he thought, fingers brushing over the pocket his phone was nestled in. _After everything, it’s what I should do._

But his hands wouldn’t dip inside. They were frozen by his sides, twitching ferociously.

Lelouch said nothing more, his gaze steadily watching Suzaku. His still, silent form made Suzaku’s barely contained emotions feel like a raging fire.

He should punch him, scream, do anything. But… No matter how he thought about it, his mind always came back to one conclusion, unable to take that final step he needed to put an end to it.

_I’m too weak…_

“I’ll let you go this one time, Lelouch,” he stepped back, turning to his side.

He didn’t want to see how relieved Lelouch looked, and how _pleased_ he seemed. “Suzaku-”

“But only this time,” he stressed. “The next time I see you, it will be as unconditional enemies.”

“Why don’t you fight by my side, Suzaku?” Lelouch furrowed his brows. “We are working for the same thing. You know what Euphemia and I have been planning.”

Suzaku bit back his next insult. He did know; an independent Japan. And with Lelouch’s plans and skills, and Euphemia’s status and general charm, they had a chance. A _real_ chance.

“That’s not the _point_ , Lelouch,” he bit out.

“Then what is the point, Suzaku?” Lelouch huffed. “What have I done that hurts you so?”

“You lied to me,” he growled. “You had so many chances to tell me the truth, Lelouch. And for what? What did you gain from not telling your _best friend_?”

“You were with the military,” Lelouch shook his head. “I tried… multiple times. You were never willing to listen.”

“You…” Suzaku groaned. “You never tried to. We never talked about anything political. Not after your abdication.”

“With good reason,” Lelouch huffed, a hand reaching up to thread through his hair.

“ _Good reason_?” Suzaku realised his voice was turning shrill, but he couldn’t stop himself.

“You know why.”

Suzaku felt his expression harden. His hand brushed over gold at his ear, and he flinched. The purple gem sitting there was smooth to the touch, his constant reminder.

 _No… I can’t wear this anymore,_ he realised. He fisted his hand around the gem, snapping it off his earpiece. _This symbol of our friendship…_

“Then I hope it was worth it.” He threw the stone towards Lelouch, falling just short of Lelouch’s feet.

Lelouch’s eyes followed its path, resting on the smooth surface gleaming back up at him. There was something forlorn in his gaze, something Suzaku couldn’t recognise or identify.

“Suzaku, please,” Lelouch whispered. “Don’t ask me to choose between you and Japan.”

Suzaku turned away, unable to face Lelouch anymore. He glanced up at his dragon, noting a worried look in Lancelot’s eyes.

He huffed, taking one long, slow step forward.

“You don’t have to choose. I’ve chosen for you.” With that, he snatched Lancelot’s reins and stormed away, shielding himself from Lelouch’s cries behind him.

* * *

Over and over, the words played back in his mind.

_You don’t have to choose. I’ve chosen for you._

He couldn’t shake the look in Suzaku’s face, burnt into the back of his mind. Lelouch glanced down, bending to scoop up the discarded gemstone amongst the rock. The little purple gem twinkled back at him; a drop of light amidst its smooth, deep surface.

“Suzaku…” Lelouch sighed, letting his eyes slide shut. Even then, he could still see it. The betrayal. Disappointment. Even… disgust.

He felt a nudge by his side, and he knew it wouldn’t be CC. He cracked open an eye and saw Gawain rubbing up against him. A lone golden eye looked up at him, blinking slowly.

Lelouch smiled, reaching down to pat over his dragon’s head. “It’s all right. We’ll be fine.”

“Will we?” CC drawled. He sent her a glare, which she couldn’t see from where she lounged in her chair.

Gawain grunted softly, pressing his chest up against Lelouch, nudging him along. Lelouch was too numb to argue, he let his dragon guide him over to the campsite. Sinking into the other chair, he gave a long sigh.

“Well?” CC nagged. Lelouch groaned, shuffling around. The rough material of the portable chair snagged at his clothes, pulling at the threads.

By his side, Gawain curled around him, head resting on his front paws.

“I don’t know.”

“You?” CC snorted. “You know everything. Try again.”

“I only pretend to know everything. And, I’m a little tired of pretending.” He slumped further down. “I should have told Suzaku earlier.”

“We all make mistakes.”

“This could have cost me the entire rebellion,” he hissed. “I had no idea Suzaku would be like this. I knew he would be upset, but…”

“So you’re disappointed in him?”

“No, I’m disappointed in myself,” Lelouch dragged a hand down his face, his lips tugged down into a frown. _I should have known better. I… thought I knew him._

 _He thought he knew you too_ , a voice whispered in the back of his mind.

“Disgusting,” he growled to himself. “God I’ve _really_ fucked this up.”

“Not necessarily,” CC hummed, stretching languidly on her chair before curling around it, like a content cat. _Glad someone is feeling fine about this situation,_ he thought glumly.

“How so, then?”

CC eyed him. “We can still go ahead with the plan. You can still challenge your father.”

“I suppose,” he grunted. “I can’t let this change our plans. What we’re doing… it’s too important.” _Suzaku will have to wait._

Gawain nudged his side, tongue poking out to lick over his open hand. He flinched, turning his palm around to scratch the bridge of Gawain’s snout.

His dragon cooed softly, warm golden eyes staring straight at him. He smiled, stroking over warm scales.

“Thank you,” he whispered, burying his head in the side of Gawain’s neck.

* * *

He walked numbly beside his dragon, each step dragging him closer to the compound.

He barely remembered the flight back to Pendragon, the ground and sky blurred into one on the horizon. By the time Lancelot had touched down in the base, afternoon reds stretched across the sky.

 _Cecile’s going to kill me,_ he groaned, rubbing over his forehead. _And she has every reason to._

Lancelot grunted loudly by his side, sending him a worried dragon glance.

“Why did you stop me, Lancelot?” he asked. Lancelot held his gaze, nostrils flaring. He gave a soft growl, shaking his head.

“Have you known all along?” he asked instead. “That Zero was… Lelouch?”

Lancelot dipped his head, pawing at the ground.

“Don’t be evasive,” Suzaku gave him a light slap on the cheek. “How could you not tell me?”

“Arroo,” Lancelot huffed softly. His eyes seemed sad, and he held his limbs close together, wings wrapped by his sides.

Suzaku sighed, shifting his hand around to pat Lancelot instead. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be taking this out on you.”

Lancelot beamed up at him, arching up and above to drop his head on top of Suzaku’s. Before he could do anything else, a warm paw rested against his back, pulling him closer.

“Thanks,” he murmured, a chuckle bubbling up his throat.

After a moment, Lancelot hopped away, bouncing lightly on his feet. They still stomped loudly, bringing a smile to Suzaku’s face.

 _Thank you, Lancelot._ He closed his eyes for a moment, letting his appreciation bloom inside his chest. There would always be warmth, deep down, so long as he had Lancelot with him.

They strode into the DRAD facility, through grand doors of intricate gold. Another dragon was exiting, their rider strutting by their side. Suzaku had to swerve to avoid them, pressing up against Lancelot’s side.

As they passed, Suzaku saw iron curled around one of the dragon’s paws, sharp chunks interlocking over the scales. It clacked loudly against the polished flooring, each touch straightening Suzaku’s spine.

Once they left, he shook the sensation off. _If those enter the battlefield… The Black Knights won’t stand a chance._ He could practically see in his mind’s eye the exact way they would tear through dragon scales, deep scars reaching to vital organs…

The research happening in Pendragon was like nothing else, and now that Lancelot’s project had joined the ranks of study, there would be more dangerous tools on the field for the empire.

 _Does Zer- Lelouch know?_ He wondered, immediately feeling his curiosity turn to disappointment with the tip of a frown, like milk curdling in a broken fridge. _What do I care, he’s leading his people into death all on his own._

 _But they fight for Japan,_ a voice nudged in his mind. It sounded an awful lot like Lelouch, and that made Suzaku grind his teeth. Even in his own head, he couldn’t escape that smooth, clipped tone.

_Enough._

“Suzaku!” He blinked, focusing back to his surroundings. Cecile raced up to him, worry plastered on her face for all to see. “Where have you been!?”

“I’m sorry, I thought I saw something and went to check it out.” He dipped his head politely. “I meant to call you, but I forgot.”

“What was it?”

“Nothing,” he gave his best casual shrug. “Lancelot wanted to go hunting, so I let him stay a bit before I realised it was getting late. I apologise for my tardiness, Miss Cecile.”

“No no, it’s fine,” she smiled, waving a hand. “You’re back, and that’s all that matters.”

“Well you did ignore orders, technically,” Lloyd piped up.

“Lloyd!” Cecile snapped. He just gave a half shrug in return.

“You’re right,” Suzaku bowed his head. “I did, and I’m sorry. I have no excuse.”

“Don’t worry about it; we’re basically done here anyway.”

“We’re…” Suzaku blinked, frowning. “Done?”

Lloyd shrugged, pressing a button on the side of the computer. “It’s not up to us, little devicer. The research was complete enough for the prince’s interests after today, and so, we’re done.”

“How anticlimactic.” Suzaku commented.

“It does feel a bit sudden,” Cecile smiled. “But that’s how it is. We move from project to project.”

“Do you still need Lancelot?”

“Of course!” Lloyd cackled, throwing his arms out wide. “Just you try and take away such a fine specimen from me!”

“Would never dream of it,” Suzaku replied smoothly, his lips quirking up into a smile.

“Luckily, we have some time before the next project will begin, so you’re free to explore the city for a while.”

“Ah…” The smile vanished from his face. “S-Sure… That’s great, I’ll go do that, then.”

He ignored the worried look from Cecile, leaving the building quickly.

No one disturbed him as he walked, no doubt sensing his gloom and the stormy expression marring his face. It was like a thick cloud of depression following him, clinging to his skin and clothes.

_Lelouch…_

He smoothed a hand down an arm sleeve, watching the creases fold out. Fingers worried over the seam, and he felt his gaze soften.

Now was the exact moment where he would be contacting Lelouch, so eager to speak to his friend and listen to that smooth voice. He caught his hand reaching for his phone, curling his fingers into his palm. He used the bite into his skin to ground himself in the here and now, putting extra weight in his steps.

He couldn’t; he needed time. He had to think, had to come to a decision on his own. Lelouch was free to do whatever he wanted, but, in the end, did his choice matter? _Whatever Lelouch was trying to do in the homeland, in Pendragon… He’s up to no good, I’m sure. Something to do with his lifelong hatred of his father._

Suzaku froze, realisation slapping him on the face. _He’s trying to kill his father. Oh, Lelouch…_

There was no way Lelouch could challenge his father on his own; even _with_ a bonded dragon, and whatever forces of the Black Knights he might have smuggled into the motherland.

 _Probably Kallen_ , he thought. _And the others he brought to meet with Euphemia. Five, maybe ten. A small number to get past the Britannian forces, but enough to back him up._

If only he knew when it would happen, when the coup would take place…

But he had run away the moment he couldn’t handle it anymore.

“Argh!” Suzaku tugged at his hair, pulling out weak strands. “Fucking _hell_ Lelouch!”


	11. Chapter 11

Wandering the halls of the barracks gave him far too much time to himself.

Lancelot didn’t have much purpose left in the Research department, but Lloyd still wanted him around the DRAD in case he needed some cross referencing.

For what, Suzaku didn’t know, and he was too out of it to bother to ask. Lloyd probably had another dragon to do tests on, someone better than them, with a more powerful bond.

 _I’d just be in the way_ , he sulked.

He stared at himself in the mirror of his room, watching all the minute twitches and movement in his face. A hand reached out to stroke down one of his cheeks, tracing over the curve of his jawline. Tiny pricks of hair brushed his palm. He sighed, pulling away.

This was getting him nowhere. He needed something to keep him motivated, to keep him going. A purpose, something to fight for. Without his presence required at the DRAD, and with Japan being in a tentative state of peace between Princess Euphemia and Zero, he found he had nothing important to do in Pendragon.

 _I wonder if I can get transferred back to Tokyo,_ Suzaku sighed. _At least there, I can help Princess Euphemia work on the truce._

He paused, eyes widening. O _f course, that’s what I need…_

He strode away from the foggy mirror to snatch up his phone. He tapped in the number for the Tokyo Administration Building. It was a com-line only a select few knew, so it was sure to be picked up by-

“ _Is that Officer Kururugi on the line_?” Gino screamed down the line. “ _Holy shit! And ringing from the homeland_?”

“Yes,” Suzaku sighed. “Hello Gino. It’s good to hear from you.”

“ _Likewise_!” He could practically see Gino’s wide grin. “ _So what can I do you for, Kururugi_?”

“Is the princess available?”

“ _Yes, I believe she’s not in a meeting right now_ ,” Gino hummed. “ _Next door, if I’m not mistaken_.”

“Are you her current guard? Quite the honour, Sir Weinberg.”

“ _Well, a princess really can’t have anything below a knight. And since she hasn’t picked her own yet, it’s up to us Rounds to do the job in the meantime_.”

“Your commitment is to be admired, Gino,” Suzaku smiled into the phone. “Can you pass me through, then, Sir Three?”

“ _Absolutely_.” Something scratched on the other end, and the sound of something falling was cut off by Gino’s swift curse.

He heard a knock, followed by a soft, “ _Your highness? It’s Gino_.”

“ _Gino_!” Euphie’s cheerful tone was distant in the phone’s receiver, but he could hear it despite the gap between them.

“ _Suzaku’s on the line, he wants to talk_.” Gino said.

“ _Oh! Of course! Thank you_ ,” the phone changed hands, and suddenly Euphie was much closer to the phone’s speaker.

“Hey… Euphie.” Suzaku said.

“ _Suzaku_!” she sounded as happy and bubbly as ever. “ _I can’t believe you’re asking for me. Here I thought you’d be too wrapped up in Pendragon to think of calling_.”

“Yeah, maybe,” he smiled. “Sorry.”

“ _Oh Suzaku, there’s no need to apologies, you know_.”

“Right. Princess…” He swallowed, letting a small grunt pass. “I… how have you been?”

“ _Just fine_ ,” she chirped. “ _But please, tell me about you Suzaku! How is the homeland?_ ”

“It’s wonderful,” he said. “Warm, but pretty. It’s so different from Area Eleven.”

“ _I’m so glad you’re enjoying yourself_ ,” Euphie laughed. “ _I only wish I could be there too_.”

“Me too. It’s a little lonely.” He admitted.

“I’m sorry, Suzaku. I wish I could have come with you.”

“You’re doing good things in Area Eleven, your highness. I can’t think of anyone more suited to bring peace to my people.”

 _Except for Lelouch,_ his mind supplied him so helpfully. He wished he could strangle his own mind, somehow, in an attempt to get it to _stop_ feeding him exactly the kind of information to bring him down.

But it was, unfortunately, the main reason he had gotten in contact with Euphemia in the first place.

“Hey, Euphie… do you… know about your brother?” he said, testing the waters.

“ _My brother_?” Euphie hummed, tapping something around her. “ _Which one_?”

“The…” She had to know; the complete trust and faith she had shown in Lelouch behind Zero’s mask seemed so obvious to Suzaku, now that he knew the truth behind Zero as well. “I think you know who I’m talking about, Euphie.”

She fell quiet, the soft vibration of the phone line ringing dully in Suzaku’s ear. He waited patiently, giving her the time she needed.

Eventually, she sucked in her breath, letting it out slowly. “ _Yes, I do. I take it not everything is going so well in Pendragon, then_?”

“Things… could be better,” he admitted. “I might have… found something out about him that I didn’t like. Something you might know of, too, I think.”

“ _I do_.”

“How did you come to terms with it? If you don’t mind me asking. I’m just… I’m feeling lost right now.”

“ _Suzaku, my brother… he needs friends too, I think. He has allies around him, but sometimes, that’s not what you need_. _He needs familiar faces, people who know him for who he is, and not for the mask he wears. I’ve barely seen my brother since we were children. Having the chance to do right with him, by him… It feels like it was met to be. But now I’m stuck here, defending our plans for Japan. He needs a friend in Britannia, Suzaku.”_

 _Lelouch needed friends? Does he deserve to be called that, now, though?_ Suzaku thought. _And why would he even need me to begin with? He has the Black Knights at his disposal. Kallen’s there, and she’s a good enough fighter. He doesn’t… I shouldn’t…_

But then, here he was, trying so hard to still keep Zero’s identity hidden from possible tracing. _I suppose I haven’t changed much after all._

“ _I think, Suzaku, you need to follow your heart. You’ll find your answer there_.”

He smiled, clutching the phone closer to his ear. Without the press back from the gold that usually sat there, it felt cold to his skin.

“Thank you for that, Euphie. I’ll think on what you’ve told me.”

* * *

The streets were the last place Suzaku wanted to be roaming after everything that had happened, and yet, the streets were where he was.

No doubt in part to Cecile’s constant nagging of him to go out and have fun, but he couldn’t blame her for worrying over him. Not after he had returned so distant and cold before.

 _I owe it to her, and Lloyd, to get out of their way for a while._ Even though Lloyd had said their work was technically done, there had to be a reason the first prince had summoned them all the way to Pendragon in the first place. _But then, they wouldn’t let me take Lancelot out if they really needed him for tests._ He glanced to his side, where his dragon followed along dutifully. Lancelot seemed disinterested in everything around him, but he was glancing around regardless. Almost as if on edge, keeping close by his rider’s side.

Everywhere he looked, there were people travelling the streets, a comfortable buzz of activity drifting through the atmosphere. And by their sides; dragons. Long and short, all kinds of shapes in a kaleidoscope of colours. In the bright rays of daylight, the shine of scales was almost blinding. There was even the dazzling look of light shades, much like Lancelot’s golden swirls and white body.

It wasn’t uncommon for the rich to walk around with their dragons, as if parading their spoils. Almost like an additional bracelet, or earring hanging from heavy ears. It seemed that everywhere he looked, Suzaku saw the glittering brightness of Pendragon. Not just in the people passing by, but in the buildings too. He couldn’t escape it, even if he wanted to.

Off to his side, Lancelot stomped off, his nose to the ground. He stumbled away quickly, leaving Suzaku standing there like an idiot before he realised his dragon was gone.

“Woah! Lancelot!” Suzaku ran after him. He kept his head down, silently cursing the curiosity of his dragon _. Now is not the time, Lancelot. We’re not supposed to take our dragons this far outside the palace._ Not for the first time, he wished he had picked a jacket with a hood for hiding his face, but the blasted thing did nothing but add a thick collar of protection around his neck. _If anyone sees I’m an Eleven…_

He would get into serious trouble if any Britannian guards saw him. Luckily, it seemed whatever had caught Lancelot’s attention was driving him off the wide main roads. They stepped away from the cobblestone, and onto broken bricks and rubble. His dragon navigated the messy side streets with ease, but Suzaku’s smaller boots made him hop and step around the places which were uneven.

 _This feels like a huge oversight,_ he thought. _Why is this pathway so broken down? Surely the capital’s streets should all be spotless?_ It didn’t make sense, but then, Suzaku couldn’t claim he was an expert on city maintenance.

 _In the end, I’m just a soldier,_ he thought dimly. He let the self-loathing press up against his mind, dulling his senses to everything else.

He came back to his surroundings with Lancelot nudging at a small wooden door. Big enough for a dragon to enter, but for someone of Lancelot’s size, he was cutting it close. It didn’t seem to be attached to any building above, and looked strangely out of place. _So, a passageway of some kind_ , he reasoned. _But where too?_

He tested the handle, finding it loose. It gave with ease, and he hurriedly stepped back when Lancelot barrelled past him.

“Wha- Lancelot! Oi! Get back here!” He quietened when he saw what was behind the entryway.

A rock tunnel. It was… a passage? In the middle of the capital? Something didn’t feel right. It felt too… wrong.

Once again, it seemed that Lancelot was pulling them into something wild and weird within Pendragon. This time, something that definitely shouldn’t be under the buildings of the city.

“Lancelot, be careful. Who knows what’s down here.”

His dragon gave a huff of acknowledgement, but otherwise ignored him. Suzaku sighed. They trotted on in silence, nothing more than Suzaku’s small steps dwarfed by Lancelot’s stomps.

There was nothing there for them here in this dark, blank cavern. It was empty, and Suzaku hated being alone with his thoughts.

“What are we doing here, Lancelot?” He tried again. “It’s just a cave. Probably a sewer entrance. What can you smell in here?”

Lancelot turned down to him, blinking slowly. He snorted loudly, and Suzaku unconsciously stepped out of range.

“Come on buddy, you’ve got to give me something to work with here.”

At Lancelot’s constant dismissal, Suzaku poked him in the side. “Fine fine, keep your secrets. But I’ll find out eventually. You can’t keep it from me.” _Unlike…_

He shook his head, squashing the thought immediately. He didn’t have time to worry about Lelouch. There were more important things going on.

“Lancelot, come on, I’m sick of wasting time here.” He reached up to grab the horn atop Lancelot’s snout, tugging him back. Lancelot yelped, helplessly like a little puppy, his eyes growing soft. He bowed his head, and Suzaku let go.

“Come on, then. Let’s go.”

Finally, as Suzaku turned to head back, Lancelot followed him. Slowly, but surely. He kept glancing back, however, down the corridor before sneaking a look back at him.

Suzaku sighed. “Lancelot-” A sound interrupted him, snapping him into a defensive position on the ground immediately.

He glanced behind them, eyes narrowing. Crouching forward, he made his way across the loose stone. Ahead of where they had just been walking, around a sharp bend in the rock, was a door-like gate.

From behind it, he heard the soft murmur of voices, but they were talking too fast and low for him to identify any words. Not for the first time, he wished he could have taken his sword (or any gun, really) to Britannia. _What a stupid rule, not letting a member of their army carry a weapon._

Lancelot was by his side, and with his fighting skills, Suzaku was sure they could tackle whatever was ahead of them.

“Break down the door,” he whispered, stepping away from his dragon.

Lancelot charged forward, his bulky form slamming into the gate. It gave immediately, metal bending under the pressure of Lancelot’s weight.

A cloud of dust spewed up around them, and Suzaku dodged behind one of Lancelot’s wings to avoid most of it. He stepped through the doorway, coughing and swiping a hand in front of him.

Inside was…

A cave. Large, spacious enough for dragons to fit comfortably, and most importantly, housing someone he thought he wouldn’t see again. At least, until he had enough time to sort out the torrent of emotions rattling around his brain.

“You’re fucking kidding me,” Suzaku growled.

“S-Suzaku!” Lelouch tripped, stumbling over his ridiculous cape. He yelped as he fell, crashing into the ground.

Suzaku crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. _Typical_. He made no move to help, watching Lelouch slowly struggle onto his knees. By his side, his dragon snorted, golden eyes watching Suzaku carefully. His stance was taunt, but he didn’t feel like he wanted to attack.

“Sorry,” Lelouch grunted, standing once more. “That was shrewd of me.”

“For falling over?” Suzaku raised an eyebrow. “Right.”

Lelouch looked away, nodding. He said nothing in response, an arm nervously reaching for the folds of his cape, tugging and smoothing them out.

Suzaku grunted, letting his hands sag down. He felt the empty weight at his ear, physically forcing himself to not touch it and draw Lelouch’s attention to it.

“I’ve been thinking,” he stared. He glanced towards Lelouch, waiting for the inevitable interruption. When it didn’t come, he frowned.

Lelouch blinked back at him, eyebrows twitching upward. “Yes?”

“Well,” Suzaku stumbled over his words. “I was expecting you to… quip something.”

“You want to talk; I’ll listen,” Lelouch dipped his head. “I won’t interrupt.”

“I…” Suzaku bit his lip. “Okay.” _Shit, what do I say now? I wasn’t expecting him to be so silent and accommodating. Especially knowing I could be full blown ranting at him right now. Lelouch hates been reprimanded, and yet…_

He shifted awkwardly on his feet, huffing out a sigh. “Why did you hide this all from me?”

“I had my reasons. You could guess, I’m sure.”

 _I could._ “Lelouch… You didn’t trust me,” Suzaku stressed.

“I couldn’t tell you. You’re in the military, Suzaku. My plans are too big to have any chance of letting them slip to my father’s forces.”

“You…” Suzaku sighed, shaking his head. “You know I don’t work for the emperor, Lelouch. I work for the good of our countries, to keep the peace.”

“Then…” Lelouch frowned, his gaze flickering off to the side. It was a sign he was over analysing it all, probably drawing conclusions from basically nothing. Or everything.

“It’s what I feel is right, Lelouch,” Suzaku said. “You follow a similar path, don’t you?”

“I do,” Lelouch nodded. “Even if our chosen methods don’t align, we fight for our chosen ideals.”

He paused, gaze trailing off to the side. Suzaku followed his line of sight to where their dragons were milling around, watching them carefully. Lancelot seemed relaxed, his wings tucked tightly by his sides with his tail wrapped around his back legs. Gawain kept glancing back at Lelouch, but otherwise was content enough to sit in Lancelot’s presence.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t bring myself to tell you on my own terms,” Lelouch continued. “But I suppose, in a way, this was better than finding out when I challenge my father.”

“So you’re really going through with it? You’re committed?”

“For years now, yes. I have.”

 _He’s dedicated, I should have expected as much_. Lelouch was as stubborn as _he_ was. Perhaps even more so than him.

And Suzaku knew how stubborn he could be.

“Oh, Lelouch,” Suzaku shook his head. “What you’re going to do will not be solved so easily.”

Lelouch bowed his head. “I’ve been fighting my whole life. Surely, you know this. You know I can’t back down.”

“I do.”

“Then you know how this ends, Suzaku.”

He nodded.

Lelouch sighed, dragging his hands up his sides to rest over his chest. Then his eyes lit up.

“Hold on. I actually have something for you.”

“Wait, I should- And he’s gone,” Suzaku huffed, watching Lelouch scamper away. He tapped a foot impatiently, turning back to Lancelot. His dragon just snorted, licking lazily over a front paw.

Lelouch walked back, carrying a sheathed sword. His hands caressed it softly, his gaze fond.

“I kept this,” Lelouch hesitated before handing the sheath over.

“This?” Suzaku took it, eyes wide as he stared at the handle. Gold laced around the pommel, rings of yellow against the black fabric wrapped so tightly around the metal. It extended down to the sheath, where a golden dragon danced along a sea of white.

The colours matched Lancelot, he realised, but the handle reminded him of Gawain. _Both our dragons,_ he traced over the rough surface joints of the dragon’s raised form, smiling softly to himself.

He froze when he noticed the tip of the pommel, seeing an all too familiar gemstone gleaming in the lowlight.

“Oh,” he said. “That.”

“Yes. Whatever you chose to do, it’s your decision to make,” Lelouch nodded. When Suzaku glanced up at him, his face had sunk back into its serious look, eyes sharp.

“You’re just giving this to me?” Suzaku asked.

“It was made for you.”

“That doesn’t answer my question,” Suzaku pointed out. He fed the sword through his belt, then wrapping his arms across his chest to face Lelouch.

Lelouch watched him carefully, his tongue wetting his lips quickly. “ _I_ had it made for you. After our last meeting, I noticed you didn’t have a sword on you. I figured, chances were you had to leave yours in Japan.”

“I’m not a knight; I’m not supposed to have one,” Suzaku grunted. “Princess Euphemia allowed me one in the government building while I was guarding her, that is all.”

“But you could be one,” Lelouch lifted his head, frowning. “Do you want to be?”

Suzaku stayed silent, eyeing the ground warily. He watched Lelouch adjust his footing, the heels of his boots crunching over loose earth.

A quick glance over at their dragons showed him they were both paying attention to their riders, watching intently.

“I don’t think I can do this without you, Suzaku.” Lelouch admitted, his tone soft. Suzaku snapped his head up, gaze trying to lock with downward violet.

“Lelouch…” he swallowed, pushing down his nerves. “Why me?”

“Because it’s you,” Lelouch stressed, stubbornly keeping his gaze away. “No one else could… You’re special. To me. In fact, I can’t do this without you. I need your help, Suzaku. I need your strength.”

Suzaku huffed, letting his head roll back. “What for?”

“To help me destroy my father.” Lelouch said matter-of-factly.

“You’re not sugar coating it,” Suzaku noted. “You expect me to murder for you?”

“What?” Lelouch looked appalled, gaze finally turning upward. “No, that crime will be solely on my shoulders.”

“But you want me to help. Be compliant in a murder.”

“The world will not get better until something is done,” Lelouch muttered. “I must dirty my hands, to protect those I love.”

Suzaku thought about Lelouch’s words. He let them run over him, considering the meaning behind them. Had he not been fighting for such a similar cause himself? He recalled telling Euphemia something similar, when she had asked him once.

He had said he fought for… his friends. Nunnally, the gang from high school out living their best lives in Area Eleven. Lancelot.

And… Lelouch.

He still felt his chest clench up to imagine him in harm’s way. _If anything happened to him, I’d…_

He paused, ignoring the worried look Lelouch was sending his way. _What… would I do? I…_

He shuddered, realisation dawning over him. Lelouch had his mouth open as if to say something, but he clicked his teeth shut when he noticed Suzaku looking.

Suzaku stepped forward, closing the distance between them. Lelouch tilted his head to the side in silent question. It left him at the perfect angle.

Suzaku raised a hand to Lelouch’s cheek, pressing their lips together.

He felt Lelouch twitch, but a second later he pushed back. Suzaku practically melted into the kiss, a hand snaking into Lelouch’s hair to tug him forward.

There was a pressure on his back, and long, curled fingers wrapped around the fabric of his shirt. He gasped softly into Lelouch’s mouth, feeling Lelouch’s tongue dart out to lick at him.

A shiver raced down his spine, bracing him back in the moment.

Suzaku snapped his head back, stumbling away with wide eyes. Lelouch was busy touching his lips, gaze thoughtfully watching the ground.

“I shouldn’t- we shouldn’t,” he shook his head, backing away from Lelouch.

“Why not?” Lelouch whispered, eyes flickering upward.

“It’s wrong-”

“It’s _not_ -”

“-And we can’t. You’re… and I’m…” He turned on his side, arms wrapping around himself almost instinctively. “I’m confused, Lelouch. I need some time. Alone.”

Glancing back gave him the view of Lelouch’s sad frown, and a slow nod. “All right,” the prince said. “I understand.”

Suzaku paused, turning back. “What?”

“I understand. “Lelouch repeated. He stepped back, holding his hands by his side. “You’re free to go, Suzaku. This is one choice you need to make yourself.”

 _I do?_ Suzaku blinked, staring down at his hands. Lelouch had said that to him before, but what choice _was_ he making?

To join Lelouch? Not turn him in? Give him a chance? _A chance at what?_ He felt like clawing at his face, but his hands stayed stubbornly by his sides.

 _I have to get out of here._ He ran away, ignoring Lelouch’s surprised cry behind him. He smashed into Lancelot’s side, scrambling up the saddle.

Lancelot watched him, eyes worried. Suzaku tugged at the reins, clicking his tongue.

He avoided looking back at Lelouch as Lancelot trotted away. He knew what would be waiting for him on that face. Almost reflected the same in his dragon; Gawain’s head following them while Lancelot passed. There was something in the dip of his snout, and the way his eyes were unblinking. Pools of gold pouring out and around his black scales.

“Three days.”

Suzaku jerked the reins up, Lancelot grunting at the sudden command. He stumbled to a stop, snorting his distaste.

“What?” Suzaku spun around in the saddle.

Lelouch hadn’t moved, standing rooted to the spot. Gawain had walked back to his side, and both of them were gazing up at Suzaku.

“Three days,” Lelouch repeated. “I’ll remain here for three more days. You know where to find me, should you… want to.”

“…All right.” Suzaku nodded, pushing Lancelot forward once more. “I’ll think about it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fortnightly updates after this, providing all goes well~  
> Thanks for sticking around guys!


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